On This Winter's Night With You
by TorontoBatFan
Summary: It's December of 1983.  Owen and Abby's prepare for their first Christmas together.  After recalling their flight from Los Alamos months before, news from Owen's past life threatens to derail their Christmas happiness.
1. Chapter 1

_Welcome to the third story of my ongoing adventures for Owen and Abby. This will be a rather long story and will deal with their first Christmas together. Warning, the first two chapters will include rather lengthy flashbacks to their journey from Los Alamos to western Montana. The other chapters will have a lot of angst. :-D _

_I hope everyone likes it. Reviews would be greatly appreciated. :-D_

_I'm aiming to have Chapter 2 up by Sunday. I'd originally planned the flashbacks to be contained in one chapter, but it was just stretching out too long. So, I decided to divide it up into two._

_A/N I don't own the characters._

_A/N 2 The title of the fic comes from the lyrics "Song For A Winter's Night", by Gordon Lightfoot._

**_ENJOY! :-D_**

On This Winter's Night With You

December, 1983

It's getting cold and late, thought Owen to himself. There was no snow, but the temperature had been dropping steadily since sundown, just past 5pm. It was now closing on 10pm, according to his Timex watch, and the mercury, the last time he checked the thermometer on the porch, was now approaching 20 F. The frigid night was clear though and –thankfully- there was no wind. He didn't want to think about what the temperature would have been like if they'd had to contend with the windchill that came from the northern blasts that came down the Rockies from Canada. That would have made this night's work most unpleasant indeed.

Owen sighed, his breath forming a cloud in the chill air, and returned to the task at hand. He removed the bulb from the socket, shook it gently to listen for the telltale rattle that indicated the filament had broken, and replaced it in the socket, making sure that he put it in straight. He looked back over the string. That had to be at least twenty bulbs on this string that he'd checked, he thought to himself.

A muttered curse from above and his right evoked a grin from him. He rubbed his cold hands and turned to look up to near the top of a large spruce tree that stood next to the porch.

A casual observer would have been shocked to see what Owen was looking at. Near the top of the tree, easily perched there, was a girl who appeared to be not much more than 12 years of age. In addition to the shock of the sight of a young girl that high in a tree, nearing 10 o'clock on a freezing night in December, this girl was only dressed in a light plaid shirt and some jeans. She had no coat or hat to shield her from the bitter elements. As a double-shock for the unenlightened, she was barefoot and the only ladder to be seen anywhere was a stepladder that Owen himself was using to check lights on the eaves. Of course, these unenlightened souls would not have known that the girl had no use for a coat or a ladder and –as a general rule- only wore shoes when in town when the public might notice such a thing. She didn't need shoes (Or socks, for that matter; Owen didn't think she even owned any.) anymore than she needed a coat or a ladder.

Right now, the girl was muttering darkly as she went about the same job Owen was doing. She was checking bulbs on the strands that were wrapped around the tree. Shaking one bulb carefully, she placed it in her shirt pocket and replaced it with a fresh one from a small pouch that hung from a strap about her shoulder.

"Abby, don't tell me you actually found a bad one!", Owen called up to her.

"Believe it or not, I think I did.", Abby called down. "Go try the switch again."

Owen walked up to the front door of the stone ranch house. He opened the storm door and the wooden inner door. He reached around for a switch and flipped it. Instantly, the porch and two flanking spruce trees lit up with cascade of multi-coloured Christmas lights. Owen and Abby emitted twin cheers of success and relief.

They'd been working outside at the job for well over four hours now. Two hours had been spent stringing up the lights on the porch and trees. Then, when the lights had failed to come on when Owen's grandfather had thrown the test switch, another two hours had been spent trying to find the faulty bulb that was causing the entire set-up to stay dark. It hadn't been a terribly hard job for them –at least not physically. It had, however, been a very exacting, annoying and –for Owen, at least- cold job. Abby, of course, was over two hundred and twenty years past a point where the frigid early winter weather caused her any sort of discomfort. Spruce gum on her skin and clothes, as well as the sheer irksome repetitiveness of checking the bulbs, however, could cause her a great deal of irritation though, which had provoked the muttered curse Owen had heard.

Owen looked up as Abby gracefully sprung off the boughs of the spruce and landed like a cat right next to him. Abby stood up with a smoothly fluidic move (It was so smooth, that a casual observer would have noticed that it almost didn't appear human. Of course, Abby wasn't quite human…at least not physiologically. From an emotional and psychological viewpoint, however, Abby had finally begun to see herself as human again after two centuries of feeling she was nothing. As far as Owen was concerned she was simply Abby, the *girl* he was deeply and forever in love with. Anything else about her really didn't matter to him, he'd discovered.) and stood next to her lover. They took a few steps back in the snow and examined their handiwork.

"Yes!", they chorused as they exchanged high-fives in a gleeful exchange of enthusiasm over finally getting the irksome job completed. Their exchange of satisfaction was temporarily disrupted by the fact their hands had briefly stuck together due to the spruce gum that was liberally coating Abby's small white hands.

"Ick.", muttered Owen as he tried to rub the gum off with some snow from the ground.

"Ick is right.", said Abby as she regarded her own hands. "It was getting to a point where I could have stuck myself to the tree with the gum alone.", she said with a smile.

From inside the house, Owen's Grandfather, Oscar Alfredson, smiled as he looked out the window at the pair. It had been a long time since he'd bothered with the outdoor Christmas decorations. This Christmas, however, it had seemed fitting to put them up again. For years, at least since the passing of his wife, he had not had any desire to decorate his home as December 25th drew near. Christmas had either been spent going to dinner at his longtime friends and neighbours, Joe and Sally Lawton, or visiting his son Lyle in San Francisco, along with Lyle's two children that Lyle didn't see as often as he would have liked…and Oscar saw even less. (One memorable Christmas in 1980, Lyle had returned for a visit and was able to bring his two children along. Prior to this Christmas, it had been the happiest for Oscar since before he'd lost his beloved Elina). The last time he'd seen Owen at Christmastime, Gerald Ford had still resided in the White House. The sad irony didn't escape him that his acceptance of Lyle's lifestyle and identity was what prompted his daughter to cut ties with him and prevented him from seeing Owen for so very long. But now, this Christmas season was definitely going to be different.

If someone had told him, one year earlier, that Christmas of 1983 would see him reunited with his grandson Owen, Oscar would have smiled and thought it as something he would have dearly enjoyed, but didn't think as too likely to happen. If he'd been told his grandson would have appeared in March of that year, fleeing from extraordinary events in New Mexico, Oscar Alfredson would have shaken his head in disbelief. To take it even further, if he had been told that Owen would have been with a female travelling companion who he regarded as utterly inseparable, and who –as plausibility seemed to be going out the window totally now- was a vampire as well…Oscar would have laughed out loud and said something about pigs sprouting winds and flying. Yet…This past March, that's exactly what had happened. And now, Oscar Alfredson had not only been forced to accept the reality of vampires, but that his grandson was deeply in love with one. And, as a total demolition of any preconceived notions he might had, he himself now could honestly say that he loved Abby like she was another grandchild to him. It was, he thought, a more than fair exchange. He'd been forced to turn his entire belief system around and in exchange he got Owen back in his life, and a surrogate granddaughter as a part of the deal. You don't question from what direction miracles or happiness come from, Oscar thought.

"Well, I'm glad you got that done.", he called out through the storm door to the pair. "What bulb was the culprit?", he asked.

"It was one that was way up the tree on the right of the porch.", Abby replied. "I didn't find any others that didn't work."

"That's good. So, I'm going to shove off to bed now.", Oscar yawned. "Owen, there's some hot chocolate for you in the pot on the stove. You just have to warm it up a bit. Abby, I brought a bottle up from the downstairs fridge for you, if you want it. It's in the pan of warm water on the stove."

"Thanks, Grandpa. Good night!", Owen called from the snowy yard.

"Good night!", Abby added.

"Night.", Oscar said as he shut the inner door and he could be seen moving past the parlour window to the stairs.

Abby turned to Owen with a smile. Impulsively she leaned over, stood up on her tiptoes –Owen had been experiencing quite a growth spurt since the spring- and gave her lover a kiss on the lips.

"I'm not complaining, but what was that for?", Owen asked jokingly.

"Does there have to be a reason?", Abby asked with a wink as she quoted one of the first things she said to him over nine months prior. "It's just so…different now. The three of us; we're a family, you know. I can't remember the last time I felt like this."

"I know.", said Owen as he gave her very cold (Abby's skin tended to mirror the surrounding air in terms of temperature) hand a gentle squeeze. "When we arrived in March, I couldn't let myself hope it would turn out this well for us."

"Me neither…but it did", said Abby with a gentle smile as they recalled their flight from Los Alamos in March….

March, 1983

Owen looked out the train window as they neared the station in Pueblo, Colorado. It was approaching twenty-four hours since the event that he could now consider the most pivotal in his life. Twenty-four hours since he had –in his estimation- gone from death to life. A day earlier, he'd been held underwater at the Los Alamos swimming pool by four sociopathic bullies who had been bent on murdering him. A cycle of violence –for no other sake than the gratification of those perpetrating it- was about to be brought to its logical conclusion.

Owen had been strangely accepting his fate. Perhaps, in retrospect, he'd really had enough. His divorcing parents didn't seem to even notice him, let alone pay any attention to him. At school, there wasn't a single person who he could refer to as a friend. And, the final straw, the evening before, he had watched Abby –the best friend he'd ever had, the girl he now realized he'd fallen irrevocably in love with- had gotten into a cab and driven out of his life. The brief time he'd known her had been the happiest he could remember and to then have it taken from him was simply too much. If this was to be his fate, he'd thought, well…that was it then.

Of course, what had changed everything was the sound of a window shattering, followed by screams of pure rage that could only be described as inhuman in their sheer intensity. Carnage followed as blood and body parts spilled into the pool. Owen had pulled himself to the surface and scrambled out of the water, to find himself looking into Abby's blood spattered face. Seeing Abby was to Owen a doorway to a new life. Perhaps, he thought, part of him did drown in that pool, and a new Owen had pulled himself out. Or, maybe that water had been his baptism into an entirely new life for both of them. At any rate, by morning, the two of them were on a train out of Los Alamos. A local train had taken them to Santa Fe by mid-morning. There, they'd boarded a northbound train, with their eventual destination being Montana.

On the train to Pueblo, Owen had happened upon a newspaper left behind by another passenger. The massacre of at the Los Alamos pool was headline news. A rudimentary glance at the stories revealed that four bodies were accounted for a fifth student was missing. The savage dismemberment of the corpses was delaying a positive identification, however, the results would probably be forthcoming by that evening. Owen realized this could be bad news.

He looked out the window and saw that it was now dark. A glance up and down the corridor revealed that the other passengers in the car were either absorbed in gathering up their baggage or sound asleep. He knocked softly on the trunk. Another knock answered him. With a deft movement he undid the latches and lifted the lid. Abby slid out with a silent efficiency that Owen could not help but wonder at. As the trunk's lid slid softly down and Abby took a seat next to Owen, it looked like she'd been there all the time.

"Hi.", she said with a smile as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hey", he replied with a happy but worried look of his own. He figured that since it was dark now, Abby could handle any problems they might encounter. But, her methods might involve gathering more attention to themselves –something they both really wanted to avoid.

"What's wrong?", she asked.

"Take a look.", Owen said as casually as he could, handing her the newspaper.

"Hmmm.", Abby mused as she read the headlines and articles swiftly. "Where are we now?"

"Pueblo, Colorado.", Owen replied. "I think that it'll take us at least two more days to get up to Montana. The trouble is, what if they realize I'm the missing student and they start watching railway stations?" So far, they'd taken steps to be sure he hadn't been seen. Abby had initially given him money for the train ticket, but they'd then decided she should be the one to buy it. Owen had thought that a ticket agent shouldn't see his face in case his photograph should ever appear anywhere. Thus, Abby had bought the ticket to Pueblo. She'd made sure not to do anything that the agent might recall as out of the ordinary. She'd even made sure to approach and retreat from the counter when the agent was distracted, so the fact Abby was barefoot would not be noticed.

"Do you think they'd watch railway stations this far away from Los Alamos?", Abby asked. "I mean, if they think you've been kidnapped by this Satanic cult the Los Alamos police are speculating about, would they really think to look for someone travelling alone, or think to look for the two of us, together?"

"I don't know. But, can we afford to take that chance? I mean, I don't want to have to worry about anyone tracking us. I want us to find somewhere that we can live in peace. You and me…together.", Owen said softly as he caressed her cheek.

"I know Owen. I want that too.", Abby said as she furrowed her brow in deep thought. Her eyes suddenly brightened. "I've got an idea for now, I think. That train schedule. What time is the train for Denver leaving"

Owen looked at the schedule and his watch. "About an hour and a half.", he replied.

"What time does it get to Denver?"

"About one in the morning."

"Good. That'll leave us plenty of time. Owen…You trust me, right?"

"You know I do."

"I know. But, I had to ask. And, do you have claustrophobia?"

"Am I afraid of tight places?"

"Yeah"

"No. I don't think so."

"Good"

"Why?", Owen asked. Although, as he looked at the trunk as Abby looked down at it and then him, as though estimating the sizes, he suspected he knew what her plan might be.

"Well, if they should try looking this far away, they'd be asking around if anyone saw you. They'd ask ticket agents, food vendors, and the like."

"So…"

"So, my idea is this. If you think you can handle being in the trunk for a while, you can get in before we get off the train. I'll get the tickets for Denver from the agent. So, if the police start showing your picture around, it won't do them any good."

"I'll be able to breathe, won't I?"

"Oh yes. I can feel the wind sometimes when I'm outside, in the trunk. It's not airtight or anything."

"OK, then. Let's do that.", Owen sighed. He glanced down at Abby's barefeet. "Abby.", he said.

"Yes?"

"Do you have shoes anywhere?"

"My boots are in one of my other bags. I can't get them easily now. Why?"

"They might remember a little girl in her barefeet in a train station in March", Owen said as he undid his own shoes. "Here, will these fit you?"

Abby put his shoes alongside her own feet. "They're big, but they'll do for now. Do you want to get in? I promise I'll let you out on the train if I possibly can."

"Ok.", Owen said as he took a deep breath. He paused and looked at Abby. He glanced up and down the corridor. Nobody was watching them. He gave her a quick but tender kiss on the lips.

"I love you, Abby"

Abby smiled at him. "I love you, too. Now, get down and relax. I'll see you soon, I promise.", she said as he lay down and she closed the lid.

The train came to a halt in the station. Abby pulled on Owen's shoes and did them up very tight so they'd stay on her smaller feet. She gently grabbed the trunk handle and lifted it up, mindful of the cargo inside of it. She took her other bag from the overhead compartment and quietly made her way to the train door.

Inside the trunk, Owen fought to remain calm in the enclosed darkness. He reminded himself that Abby was carrying the trunk and she wouldn't allow anything to happen to him. Once he kept that image in his mind, he could force himself to think about the next step of their journey.

It was unlikely that any police in Denver would be alerted to them. If they thought he was kidnapped, they probably would never think to look at public means of transportation. Still, if they thought he'd been brainwashed by that non-existent cult he'd read about, they might think to look for a boy on his own. Or, they might try to see if he'd gone through afterwards and then they might find out where he bought tickets to. They couldn't go the whole way with him in the trunk either. At dawn, Abby would have to return here to hide away from the sunlight. Owen sighed to himself. It's a shame, he thought, they couldn't just mail themselves to Montana. In the darkness, Owen's eyes opened widely as it dawned on him…maybe they could do that.

"We do what?", Abby asked quietly, three hours later on the train to Denver. The car they were in was almost deserted. Three other passengers were sleeping throughout the car. Even the car's conductor, after checking her ticket had nodded off. Owen getting out of the trunk had been done without difficulty aside from his being incredibly stiff and his eyes sensitive to the light for about ten minutes afterwards.

"Have ourselves shipped.", Owen said with a quiet intensity. "Think about it. If anyone wanted to follow us, they would look at the ticket booths and ticket agents. Well, we have the trunk. It *could* fit both of us for a short time. Or, we could get a crate somewhere, put the trunk in there along with the two of us. We have it shipped in the baggage car to Montana. Nobody sees us. No ticket agents sells a passenger ticket to a boy or girl our age. No conductor sees us in the car together or alone. I think it would work."

Abby thought about it. It certainly wouldn't be terribly comfortable, but it would definitely be safe. She couldn't find a hole in the plan, no matter how hard she looked at it. She smiled at her new boyfriend. "Owen, I think you're a genius."

In Denver, Owen and Abby had debarked from the train with Owen in the trunk. Abby had carted the trunk out to the taxi stands, for the benefit of anyone watching…Then she'd detoured into the shadows of an alley. There, Owen emerged again and Abby returned his shoes to him. The two then went to a nearby deserted park, across the street from the station, where they could wait and look at the schedules and figure what was their next move.

The next step was a little more delicate. Abby had to seek out someone who looked desperate, yet trustworthy for the next part of the job. Towards five a.m., Abby spotted a tired looking workman carrying a lunchbox, walking along the street. It was decided that Abby would handle this part of the job. She'd done it before. As well, there was something about her that made people want to help her, which would be a benefit. Plus, if this person turned out to be violent or dangerous, Abby would be more than capable of defending herself. It turned out to be quite easy.

"Excuse me, mister."

"Huh.", the man started in surprise. He stared at the pretty, delicate looking girl. "What do you want sweetheart?"

"On your way to work?"

"What?", he exclaimed. Clearly, being asked about his schedule by a little girl at five in the morning was not a normal event for him. He decided to humour her. He was far too tired for anything else. "If you really gotta know, I'm leaving my night job. Now, I go home and shower before going to my other job."

"Sounds bad."

"It is. But, I have to pay my mortgage. There's this little thing going on called the Recession. Friggin' Reagan…", he muttered.

"Want to make fifty dollars easily?"

"Little girl, I'm really too tired to be playing games."

"I know. It's no game. All I want is for you to just go into the train station and pay to have a trunk shipped to Montana."

"That's it?", the man looked around as though he was afraid he was being filmed. Of course, what this kid was asking wasn't in any way illegal, even if it was out of the ordinary.

"That's it. I'll give you the money for the shipping. You can keep the change as well as fifty dollars just for your troubles."

The man looked at Abby. This little kid might be nuts. She was offering him enough that would definitely help a little with his monthly bills. Shipping a trunk within the United States was definitely not illegal. So, he thought, why the hell not?

"Ok, kid. You've got a deal. Let's see your money and what's the address?"

Abby handed him some bills and a slip of paper. "This is for the shipping. This is the address. You'll get your fee when I see the shipping receipt."

"Don't trust strangers that much kid?"

"Please don't take it personally."

"Don't worry. I think you're smart for a kid your age.", the man sighed as he walked into the station. Ten minutes later, he emerged with some papers. "There's your receipt. This here is your baggage ticket. They said just drop the trunk at the baggage check area here. The train leaves at nine this morning."

"You were fast.", Abby said with a shallow smile, as she scanned the papers and confirmed their validity

"I want to get home fast."

"Well, I won't keep you. Here's your fifty dollars…a ten dollar bonus for being so fast.", said as she handed him three twenty dollar bills.

"Sixty bucks for fifteen minutes?", the man said incredulously. "You don't need me for any more jobs, do you? I could quit my night job if you did and actually sleep in the house I'm trying to pay off."

"I'm afraid not. Sorry"

"Mind if I ask what you're going up there for?"

"I rather think a whole new life.", Abby smiled at the man in a pleasant way that yet made him feel chilled as he saw that her teeth were quite white…and rather sharp looking. "Have a pleasant night.", she said in a courtly manner that reflected a bygone era.

Abby walked back to the alley where Owen had been watching and keeping watch on the trunk.

"We're set. We just have to get this to the baggage loading area by around half-past eight."

"Do you think anyone would be watching us?", asked Owen.

"I doubt it. I think that they look for people taking luggage, not putting it there. Owen, I'll have to be in the trunk well before that time. Can you handle it on your own?"

"How about we take it there now? That way we can both be inside before the sun comes up and also before it gets busy there."

"OK. That's a good idea. Um, I know it's a little late to ask, but will be able to handle being inside there all day with me?", Abby asked with a questioning half-smile.

"With you…I can stay in there as long as it takes.", Owen said with a smile as he took her hand. "I was looking at the schedules. With a bit of luck, we should be in Montana by this time tomorrow."

"That's good. When the sun goes down tonight, we can open up the trunk if there's nobody around. It'll give you a chance to stretch. You might even be able to do it during the day if there are no windows in the baggage car."

"Alright. I just want to get there. Let's get the trunk to the baggage area."

Abby affixed the shipping labels to the exterior of the trunk. She noted with satisfaction that the trunk had been listed as a fragile item and shouldn't be placed up high or with anything on top of it. That would make opening up the top at nightfall a far easier prospect.

Returning to the train station, they walked along to the doors where heavy baggage was dropped off. Luckily, no station employees were on hand at the moment. Stealthily, they pushed the trunk to the loading platforms and found the area for the northbound trains. Abby lifted the lid and stepped in. She lay down and beckoned Owen to follow her. Owen carefully stepped in and lay down beside Abby. It was tight, but definitely something he could tolerate for the hours it would take until they were in a darkened baggage car –or even until the sun set that evening, if it came to that. His earlier experience in the trunk had shown him that he could breathe without difficulty. The stiffness was something he would simply have to tolerate. As well, he thought with a smile, he could find nothing wrong with being put into such close quarters with Abby.

They shut the lid on top of them and quietly awaited the baggage handlers to load them onto the Montana bound Amtrak.


	2. Chapter 2

_Welcome to Chapter II. This chapter will conclude the flashbacks of their flight from Los Alamos to Montana. The next chapter will pick the December narrative again. I hope everyone enjoys this. _

_Reviews are wonderful things and very much appreciated._

On This Winter's Night With You, Part II

March 1983

Irony, thought Owen. It was a funny thing. One of the first things he'd said to Abby –on the second meeting, no less, was that she smelled funny. That was a few weeks ago. And now, he thought, he was the one smelling rather funny himself, if his estimation of the situation was in any way correct.

Of course, is his defense, he hadn't had a proper shower since Los Alamos. And how long ago was that? It was about three days now; since he was last in his old apartment in Los Alamos. True, he'd stood under the shower spray in the lockers after emerging bloodied and scraped from the swimming pool. But, it had definitely not been a proper shower with soap or shampoo. In addition, he'd been travelling most of the last two days and today, he was currently inside of a steamer trunk. Even with his coat now bunched up and acting as a cushion for his head, it was hot and he was perspiring.

He wondered if Abby would comment on it if she were awake now. In the dark and cramped confines of the large steamer trunk, about the only comfort he could take was the close presence of Abby's sleeping form. Needless to say, a close presence was a definite understatement. He and Abby were pressed together more or less like a pair of human sardines. As well, a various assortment of Abby's admittedly few possessions were also in the trunk with them. They'd been redistributed strategically to allow for maximum comfort to the two passengers now waiting out the day inside the sturdy steamer trunk.

However, Abby was dead to the world –how literal that phrase was in Abby's case during daylight hours, Owen really couldn't tell and, at that point, it did not sit high on his list of concerns at any rate. All he knew was that Abby had warned him that once the sun rose, she was likely to fall asleep at any time. The vampire's sleep instinct was powerful and –so she said- it was a great chore for a vampire to stay awake once the need for sleep came upon them. Her words were most prophetic. Within an hour of them closing the trunk's lid at the baggage area of the Denver railway station, Abby had audibly yawned. In the dark, Owen could feel her fingers gently feeling for his face. Once she had her hands on either side of his head, she gently pulled him towards her. In the dark, Owen felt their lips lock together and her tongue briefly flit across his teeth. Abby broke the kiss and sleepily whispered a good night, then fell completely silent.

Owen had no exact way of knowing how long she'd been asleep. He did know that the train north to Missoula, Montana had been due to leave at nine in the morning, sharp. It seemed to him that they had left on time. They'd already been placed on the floor of the baggage car before Abby's daytime slumber began. After Abby had fallen asleep, he'd felt a rumble and then vibration as the train began to move. Their progress had seemingly been steady. There had been several stops so far. At one of them, a baggage handler had come into the car and Owen could hear some bags being moved around, luckily nobody had come close to the trunk. It was locked from the inside, but Owen didn't want to take any chances.

Owen couldn't even read his wristwatch. The luminous dial and hands required some light to charge them up, so to speak. They'd been in total darkness for so long, any glow had long since faded, leaving him with no way to tell what time it was. It had to be into the afternoon by now, wasn't it?

He wondered if he should lift the lid of the trunk open a little. Abby had said he could if the car was dark. Owen didn't know how much light would be dangerous for her though. In Los Alamos, it looked like Abby was alright in the bathroom that had paper taped over the windows. Still…He was afraid of the possible consequences. He'd rather stay in darkness until the trunk was offloaded than put Abby to any risk.

Still, Abby had said that it would be alright if there were no windows in the car. Owen, reached up and felt around for the improvised deadbolt that held the lid shut. He slid it open, took a deep breath and pushed the lid of the trunk up by about a half-inch. Suppressing a moan brought about from his stiff body, he propped himself up on one arm and peered out through the crack. A joyful sight met his eyes. The baggage room was totally windowless and appeared to only be lit by a single bulb by the door. (The faint bulb's light did seem maddeningly bright to Owen after he'd been immersed in darkness for so many hours).

The air that now flooded into his nostrils was shockingly cold and carried the scent of diesel fuel from the engine. Yet, it seemed amazingly fresh to Owen. All a matter of perspective, he thought. Looking around, he could see that the trunk was situated in a corner of the car. It was far from the either the main door used to load the baggage or, or the access door used by the train's crew. Still, Owen didn't want to take a chance by pushing the lid open all the way. Feeling around in a pouch that lined the trunk's side, he withdrew the Rubik's Cube that he'd had with him in Los Alamos. It was actually what broke the ice, initially, with Abby. For that reason alone, Owen now thought it far more than a mere puzzle. For right now though, it could serve another purpose. Lifting up the lid another inch, or so, Owen inserted the Cube in the space between the lid and the trunk, making sure to keep most of the Cube's volume inside the trunk. Thus, all he had to do was reach up and give it a yank and the lid would shut again. So, Owen could now lean back and actually enjoy some fresh air even if he still had to contend with the cramped quarters.

Leaning back down, Owen thought that if it wasn't for the crowded conditions, this would be just fine. He really couldn't think of anything nicer than just lying close to Abby. If she'd been awake, it would have been perfect. However, he was still content just to lie next to her in peaceful darkness. Just a few weeks ago, Owen would have been beside himself with happiness if could just have a friend. It was so remote a possibility, he'd never even let himself hope for it. And then…Abby moved in next door to him. Before he knew it, Owen had the friend he'd so badly wanted. Soon, his feelings for her had passed far beyond friendship. The strangest thing for him, he thought, looking back, was that ALL of it came so stunningly clear to him at once. After he'd learned the truth about her he'd been shocked, then scared. Just what did she want with him anyways?

The next night, though, she'd come to his apartment and he realized just what Abby was to him. He still felt guilty about goading her to enter his apartment without a verbal invitation. Perhaps, in hindsight, he was trying to posture to cover his nervousness over what she was. It was when she'd stood before him, with blood pouring out of every pore she had, that it all shrunk down to something so painfully simple. He loved her. He loved her, no matter what she was. He'd seen her literally dying in front of him and in an instant he'd realized that he couldn't face losing her. All of a sudden, the fact she was a vampire seemed completely insignificant compared to his realization of the huge place she now occupied in his heart. He screamed out an invitation and just collected her in his arms and held her tight as –to his great relief- he saw that the bleeding stopped.

And now, they were together. They were embarking on a new life together, or so they both dearly hoped. For the first time he could remember, Owen saw the future as something he could not wait for.

The faint light had allowed him to see his watch. It was two in the afternoon already. They were due into Missoula at around half past six. Owen decided he should try to get some sleep. He took a final breath of cool air and reluctantly removed the Rubik's Cube from the lid. Settling back down into the darkness next to Abby, he reached out and found her hand. He gently gave it a squeeze and leaned in very close to her.

"Sweet dreams Abby. I love you.", he whispered softly before forcing himself to relax and allow the rhythmic movement of the train to lull him to sleep.

"Owen? Owen?", he heard the beautiful soft voice that he so loved calling him in a whisper.

"Abby?"

"Now who else would be here, silly?", she asked with a giggle.

"What time is it? Where are we?"

"Your watch says it's six o'clock. I guess we have to be pretty close to Missoula."

"You can see my watch?"

"Of course. Owen, don't forget, darkness is my natural element"

"Yeah…I guess I never thought of that. What should we do once we're there?"

"I was thinking that I'd get the tickets for the last leg to Cold Creek. Can you handle staying in here a while longer? I thought we'd do what we did in Pueblo. That seemed to work fine."

"If you think that's best."

"Sorry, but I do."

"OK."

"Just think Owen, a couple of more days and we'll be there."

"I know. I can't wait. I wonder what my grandfather will say."

Abby didn't say that she was wondering the very same thing. She had no idea how they would explain her presence. "I'm sure it'll work out fine.", Abby said with more confidence than she felt.

The local train didn't leave until eight-thirty, as it had been delayed down the line. That gave Owen and Abby a couple of hours to kill. Abby –again wearing Owen's shoes- pushed the trunk outside the station and found a secluded spot to let Owen out for some air and to stretch his legs. Nobody was seen anywhere. Apparently, Missoula wasn't a bustling place on a weekday night in March. The two looked around at their surroundings. Abby's eyes locked on a white building with a red cross near the roof, that was situated a block away. A sign denoted the name of the building as St. Patrick's Hospital. A hospital, she thought. This might be a time to try something Owen suggested.

"Owen."

"Yeah?"

"Wait here. I want to try something. I'll be back in five minutes, I promise."

Before Owen had a chance to respond, Abby had across the street so fast he couldn't believe it. Owen just sat on a public bench and savoured the fresh air as he massaged his legs. True to her word, not more than five minutes passed when Owen sensed something. He turned and saw Abby standing beside him with a smile on her face and some objects in her hands.

"What do you have there?"

"I thought we both needed some food.", she replied. She handed him a wrapped sandwich. "This is from a food cart that was just outside the cafeteria. And *this* was from the blood bank.", she said as she showed him the contents of her other hand. There, were two plastic IV bags full of blood. A prominent label denoted them as "O-Positive"

"You're going to try it?"

"Why not? I need to know sooner or later if this idea will work..", Abby replied. She looked at the IV bag, then wrenched off the bottom valve, where the IV line was supposed to be attached. She placed the valve in her mouth and gave it a squeeze has she sucked at it simultaneously. Half the bag's contents was consumed in a rapid manner, as Owen watched with wonder. Abby made a puzzled face as she took the valve from her mouth.

"Does it work?", Owen asked with trepidation.

"I think it does.", Abby said as a smile crept over her bloodied lips. "It's a little different than what I've had before, but I don't feel funny or anything." She put the valve back in her mouth and polished off the remainder of the contents. She grabbed the other bag and repeated the procedure.

"Owen," she said excitedly, "I think this idea of yours is really going to work." Her smile grew wide as she allowed her mind to grasp the possibilities of being able to feed regularly without a trail of bodies appearing in her wake.

"I wonder if you'll be able to use animal blood as well.", Owen speculated.

"I don't know. But, so long as I know I can find blood banks like these, I know I'll have at least one safe place to feed from."

"Aren't you glad you changed your mind about how we couldn't be friends?", Owen asked with a smile of his own.

"You have no idea. Now, eat your sandwich. You need to eat too. You must be starving. Then, we need to figure out the final steps for us to get to your grandfather's"

"Well, I looked up his place on the map, back in Los Alamos from time to time. I would do that on my birthday, or Christmas, or whenever I thought it would be nice to see him again. His place is about ten miles outside of the town. I think we'll have to walk once we're there."

"Yeah. We really don't have a choice with that. What time does the train arrive in Cold Creek?"

"Well, if it leaves here at half past eight, we're supposed to arrive around nine-thirty."

"And then a ten mile walk with the trunk? We should probably arrive there at midnight, it we're lucky."

"We have been, so far…", Owen started to say but was interrupted by a coughing spasm.

"Are you alright?", Abby asked, her voice tinged with faint concern.

"I'm fine.", Owen said. His voice seemed raspy though and Abby thought he looked pale. She also noted that his eyes looked rheumy and he seemed to be shivering.

"You don't look fine to me, Owen.", she said softly.

"Well, it doesn't really matter. We can't stop now."

"I know. But Owen…When did you last get any sleep?"

"I got about three hours this afternoon; maybe four."

"What about before that?"

"Before that, I don't remember. I know I didn't sleep much the last few nights in Los Alamos. With everything that was happening, I just couldn't sleep."

"When did you last eat, before that sandwich?"

"I think…I ate something in Santa Fe."

"Owen…That means you've barely eaten or slept in days. It's no wonder you're getting sick!"

"I know. But we have to keep going.", he rasped before another coughing fit. "We have to get someplace where you can be safe."

"We have to get *you* someplace where you can rest, eat and get better.", she countered, rubbing his cold hands in concern.

"We have to take care of each other, I think.", Owen said as he leaned against her.

"Yeah…That sounds right to me.", she said as she hugged him as is she could will him to be better.

The final leg on the train was accomplished easily. The last ten miles to the ranch were not quite so fortunate. When Owen emerged from the trunk into the dark and quiet night –the small town of Cold Creek was even more quiet than Missoula had been- a cold March rain was falling. Owen shivered as he stepped into his shoes and laced them back up. He picked up one of the trunk's handles, Abby took the other, and they began the walk to their hoped for future.

It was, perhaps, the longest and easily the most miserable walk either of them had ever taken. The cold rain only lasted about halfway to the ranch. At the half-way point it turned into sleet. Both of them were soaked through long before that though. Abby, of course, wasn't bothered by the cold. She was, however, very greatly bothered –downright worried was more like it- by Owen's constant coughing, rasping and the occasional sneeze. Several times Abby suggested she fly Owen the rest of the way, and she would return later for the trunk on her own. Owen wouldn't hear of it though, as he refused outright any idea that involved Abby leaving her daytime shelter unattended or protected. He likewise refused to let Abby carry the trunk all of her own. He said, between coughs, that he was fine carrying his end of it.

At midnight, almost exactly as they'd planned it, they came over a rise –they'd been walking through the woods that ran parallel to the road, to ensure no passing motorist spotted them- and saw the ranch. Owen had very vague memories of the place from his early childhood. It was –of course- Abby's first look at the place. It consisted of a solidly built, two-storey house constructed of stone. Surrounding it was a barn, a garage, a tool shed, and various other small structures that had clearly been added to over the years. Covering a vast area of the property were open fields and paddocks where Abby could make out the sheep and cattle that the ranch raised. Evergreen woods stretched almost to the house and their fragrant scent was a treat to the senses. In the house, to their mutual surprise, some lights still shone in the ground floor windows and the telltale blue glow of the television could be seen.

Owen took a breath and gathered his courage. He took a look back at Abby, who stood just to the back of him, on the porch steps, and rapped three times with the door- knocker. There was a series of muffled sounds from within, followed by steps approaching the door. Owen and Abby could hear the lock turning open and then the door swung open, to reveal Oscar Alfredson.

Owen's grandfather bulged his eyes out at the sight of the two on his front porch. He stared long and hard at Owen. Finally, he spoke in a tone that indicated he didn't believe his own eyes.

"Owen? Is that really you?"

"Hello Grandpa. Yes, it's me."

"Oh my God, what…what are you doing here?"

"It's a long story."

"Where's your mother?"

"She's not here."

"Who's that with you?", Oscar asked as he seemingly took notice of Abby for the first time.

"That's Abby."

"Who's Abby?"

"Abby is…with me."

"What do you mean?"

"Grandpa…It's a long story. I'm not even sure if you could believe it."

"Owen, this is already hard to believe. I haven't seen you in what, seven years, and now you show up here, at midnight, with some strange girl. What is going on?"

"Abby is…", Owen tried to find some way he could say this without sounding like an escaped lunatic. But, he realized there was truly no other way but the direct approach. "Abby is…a vampire."

"A what?", Oscar asked flatly. He was thinking that either he'd heard wrong. He had fallen asleep while watching the late movie on television and was dreaming. Or, either he or Owen (along with this girl he was with) had gone completely insane.

"A vampire.", Abby repeated. Then, as Oscar shifted his eyes to her, in response to her words, something happened that changed his view of the world forever. Abby's face began to change. Before his unblinking eyes, her face shifted into something that was…unreal. Her teeth suddenly appeared astoundingly prominent and razor sharp. Her eyes turned a completely different colour. In addition, her fingernails suddenly appeared quite long and dangerous as well. It was like watching a horror movie on television, but this was happening on his own front porch.

"Grandpa," Owen asked as he gently took his grandfather's hand, calloused from decades of working the ranch, in his own small one, "do you believe us now?"

"Yes.", Oscar said numbly. There was nothing else to say. Like Saint Thomas, he'd been shown the proof before his very eyes. His eyes were still locked on Abby who was shifting back into her normal appearance. Abby smiled at Oscar, as if she was trying to show that even though she could have a fearsome appearance, she wasn't a threat to him.

"Can we come in?", Owen asked. Oscar nodded dumbly.

"Could you please say it out loud?", Owen asked politely. He didn't want a repeat of what happened in Los Alamos. He wasn't certain his grandfather would recover from the shock in time to extend an invitation. This wasn't his home, at least not yet, so he couldn't do it. And, he wouldn't risk Abby's safety when they'd finally reached their destination.

"You two can come in.", Oscar said as he decided that either his life had really changed forever, or he had gone insane. Either way, there was no point in them standing out on the porch. He stepped back from the door and picked up an object that had clearly been kept out of view from the door but had been within easy reach for his grandfather. Owen looked and saw it was an M-1 Garand rifle. Obviously his grandfather still had his old World War II rifle and wasn't used to late night callers. Oscar led them into the kitchen.

Over a half-hour later, the three of them were seated around the kitchen table. Owen had just recounted for his grandfather the events that had taken place in Los Alamos, from his meeting Abby to their arrival at the ranch. Oscar looked at the two youngsters.

"And, you want to stay here?"

"Like I told you, Grandpa, we can't go back. The police would think that I killed Kenny and his buddies or I've been brainwashed by that Satanic cult they think is behind it all. And, I can't put Abby into any danger…I won't.", Owen said with determination. His forcible demeanor was broken by another coughing spell. Abby noted that he definitely looked ill.

"And you want…Abby…to stay hidden here and just feed off wildlife and blood that Sam, the town butcher has lying around?"

"It's a way she could survive without having to attack anyone. If she does that, nobody would even know she's here."

"But Owen…", Oscar began only to be interrupted as Owen started coughing again.

"Stop.", Abby said suddenly as she rose to her feet. "Mr. Alfredson, I don't blame you for not wanting me here. I know what I am. Owen needs a place to stay though. He's sick. You can see that. Please, if you let him stay here, I'll leave and I won't be troubling you again." Abby said with a solemn voice and a falling heart.

"Abby, no!", Owen cried hoarsely.

"Owen, there's no other way."

"Oh yes there is. I just won't stay here either."

"You have to, you're sick."

"I don't care. I told you back in Los Alamos that I couldn't face you leaving again. I meant it then, and I mean it now. I don't care about where we are, so long as we're together."

"My God, Owen, you can't go out in the cold like this. I'll be alright."

"No, Abby; you need me and I need you. It's just that simple.", Owen retorted.

As Oscar watched his grandson and the young (well, young looking) vampire girl argue, a memory came to him. It was a scene from some fifty years earlier, when he was only a year or two older than Oscar was now. He'd returned to the ranch after riding the rails, trying to find work so he could send money home during those terribly hard first years of the Great Depression. On his travels, he'd met a young girl named Elina, who was living under even harsher circumstances than he was. They bonded and soon came to trust each other in those hard times. One thing led to another, and they became inseparable. When he got word from his father that things had improved on the ranch enough that he could now come home as there was work enough again now, he'd brought Elina with him. His family was shocked at this vagabond girl who'd accompanied him home. But, Oscar had stood his ground. He'd told his father and family bluntly that if Elina wasn't welcomed there, he wouldn't stay either. His family relented and Elina became a part of life there. Within a few months of returning, they'd married and had remained inseparable (aside from his leaving for overseas service during the Second World War) until her passing. Now, Oscar realized –with a shock as great as the one at seeing what Abby was- that history was repeating itself. Owen had returned to his family's land with a girl that clearly was as much as an outcast as his Elina was. He could also see that both of them meant what they were saying. Abby was willing to leave so Owen could be safe, while Owen was willing to risk a life on the move to remain with her. He saw the looks they were giving each other. They were absolutely identical to the looks he gave Elina for well over four decades and she gave him in return. It was time to put a stop to this.

"Enough!", said Oscar sternly. The two turned to look at him. "You're staying here. The BOTH of you are staying here. I don't know if I'm going to wake up any minute in my bed, or the easy chair in front of the television to find this is a dream, or not; but as far as I'm concerned, you're both staying put."

Owen and Abby looked at each other and then Oscar. They were clearly surprised by this turn of events.

"You mean it?", asked Owen tentatively.

"I wouldn't have said it otherwise, my boy.", said Oscar. "Now, you", he said to Owen "go upstairs. Take a hot shower and put on some pajamas. I actually have an old pair that belonged to your Uncle Lyle that would fit you. Then, you come and get some hot food into you." Owen smiled at Abby, then scurried off to the upstairs to do what his grandfather said. Oscar then turned his attention to Abby.

"As for you..Do you think you can heat a can of soup for Owen when he comes back down? There's some minestrone in the cupboard there. And I have some leftover spaghetti with meat sauce in the fridge if he wants something more. Think you can handle that?"

"Yes, I can manage."

"Good. I'm going to go and make up a bed for Owen in his uncle's old bedroom. Can I presume you'll need someplace really dark to sleep when the sun comes up?"

"Yes. But, for today, I'll make do with my trunk."

"That would be a help. I swear to God, if I didn't know better I'd think this to be a dream.", Oscar muttered half to himself and half to Abby. "I think I'm at the end of my energy for today. It's lambing season now. I actually spent most of the evening looking after some ewes that just gave birth. When I finished, I decided to watch _The Public Enemy_ on television before I went to bed. It was just ending when you knocked on the door.."

"I saw that myself…back when it first came out in the theatre.", Abby said offhandedly, trying to sound casual about the fact that she'd seen James Cagney's breakout film role all the way back when it was released in 1931.

Oscar sighed to himself. He would have to get used to the fact that this girl had seen many of the things he'd seen in his younger days. At least, he mused, it might be interesting to have someone around here who appreciated the same old movies he did.

"So, you can take care of things if I go off to bed, after I take care of the room upstairs?"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"Very well, goodnight.", Oscar said as he headed for the stairs.

An hour later, Owen was propped up on some pillows in his Uncle Lyle's old bed. He was feeling much better. Getting out of his wet and filthy clothes, a hot shower, some hot food and finally getting into a clean bed had all felt like amazing luxuries after three days and nights on the move; and that had followed three near sleepless nights induced by worries about Abby. This would be his first really good sleep in almost a week. He was still sneezing and feeling congested. However, he'd taken a decongestant and was certain that all he needed was to catch up on some food and rest, and he would be fine in two or three days. A knock at the door to his room broke him from his reverie.

"Can I come in?", asked Abby from the open door. She was dressed only in a very oversized t-shirt and her hair was wet from taking a shower of her own.

"Do you need to ask? You're living here as well now."

"Well, yes. But it is your room."

"Do you need an invitation then?"

"No. But, it IS only polite to ask.", Abby said with a relaxed smile.

"Well, yes Miss Manners. You, can come in anytime you want.". Owen laughed.

"Good. I plan to now. Besides, my trunk's in here.", Abby said with a grin as she sat cross-legged on the bed next to him as she nodded towards the steamer trunk now lying against the wall. Abby glanced at the open trunk and saw that Owen had actually placed a pillow inside of it for her as well as blanket to lie on. She smiled to herself at Owen's small but appreciated gesture towards her comfort. The trunk would be her daytime bedroom until they could find some permanent place that was dark and private. There was plenty of time to look into that in the coming days though. Right now, Abby was just glad their long journey had ended.

"That's fine by me. As much as I really did love lying next to you in there, I'm really glad to be in a bed again.", Owen said with a contented sigh as he snuggled back down under the covers.

"Well, I have to say that I did like sharing my bed with you on the train. Um…Do you mind if you share this bed with me until it's time for me to move into the trunk?"

"You actually have to ask?"

"I just didn't want to be presumptuous", Abby smiled.

"Abby…You're welcome anywhere I am, as far as I'm concerned.", Owen said with a smile.

"Oh good.", she replied. Then, in one smooth motion, she lifted the shirt off and over her head. Leaving it folded across the foot of the bed, she slid her now naked body under the covers with Owen. She looked over and saw that Owen's eyes were bulging out.

"Oh…I'm sorry Owen. Am I being gross?", she asked in a repeat of the question she'd asked him that night in Los Alamos when she'd also climbed nude into his bed when she just wanted to be close to him. "Do you want me to put the shirt back on?", she asked softly.

"No.", Owen said. He was little nervous, but definitely didn't want Abby to feel bad about what she was doing. And, he definitely did not want her to put her shirt back on. He was nervous, but not at all unhappy with what Abby did. "It's just like what you did back in Los Alamos. At least you're not freezing cold now.", he said with a smile.

"No, I'm glad not to be out there now.", she said as she looked towards the window where the sleet had turned again; only this time into heavy, wet snow.

"I'm glad we're here too.", Owen said as he reached over and caressed Abby's cheek. She leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips.

"Aren't you afraid of catching my cold?", Owen said jokingly, as he knew she was at no risk.

"I don't get sick like that. And frankly, even if I did...I would risk it.", she said as she kissed him again.

"Owen?", she asked a moment later.

"Yeah."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"That night I came into your room, you could tell I was cold from being outside and I also didn't have anything on. How come you didn't well, try to look, or do anything? You didn't even ask what I was doing there."

"I think I was afraid."

"What were you afraid of?"

"I was afraid I'd wake up."

"What?"

"I thought at first it was a wonderful dream. You were in my bed…with me. I was afraid if I moved, or questioned it, or anything I'd wake up and it would all be over."

"Aw, Owen, you don't have to worry. Awake or asleep, I'll still be here.", she said as she took his hand and put it to her cheek. Her only answer was a gentle snore. She looked over and saw that Owen had given in to his exhaustion and had fallen asleep. Abby smiled and continued holding his hand to her cheek for the remaining hours until the advent of dawn necessitated her returning to her trunk.

December, 1983

That was how their arrival had been. They'd been still new to their relationship then. Now, of course, there was a great deal more comfort between them that had come with familiarity. They both soon came to love life on the ranch. Owen reconnected with his grandfather in the ensuing weeks. And Oscar soon found himself forgetting just what Abby was, as he got more and more used to her presence and he began to simply think of her as a surrogate granddaughter.

As well, their own relationship has progressed by leaps and bounds. The biggest step of all, of course, was what happened on that warm night in July; the night of Owen's thirteenth birthday. That was the night Owen and Abby made love for the first time. Since that night, their physical intimacy was only matched by their emotional intimacy. Sometimes, they felt so close they could almost sense what the other was thinking.

That's not to say, that there wasn't a playful element to their relationship. That element came into play very often: when they went for walks in the fields under the moonlight; when they camped on the roof of the snack bar at the local drive-in to watch a movie -it was the only way they could go to see a movie without risking Owen being spotted; when they went swimming; and, of course, when they were outside in the snow.

As they stepped back to admire their handiwork with the lights, Owen picked up a large clump of snow and tossed it into the air. In a perfect mortar shot, it looped up and came down on Abby's head. She half-grinned and half-glared at him as she realized another snowball fight had just been declared.

"So, you want to play, huh?", she said with an arched eyebrow

"Anytime, anywhere.", Owen laughed back as he hurled a snowball at her.

Of course, with her speed and strength, Abby had the definitive advantage in a snowball fight. Under her hands, it soon looked like a blizzard was coming in horizontally. Owen, knowing this, dodged underneath the barrage and closed on her. With Abby emitting a delighted squeal, Owen grabbed her and pinned her to the snowy ground.

"So", Abby said with mock disgust, "what are you going to do with me now?"

"This!", Owen said as he leaned down and kissed her.

"I see.", smiled Abby as the kiss broke. "You've finally admitted that you can never beat me in a snow war."

"Never!", Owen laughed. Swiftly, he pulled the tail of her shirt out of her jeans and threw handfuls of snow under her shirt and over her torso.

Abby just grinned at him with a malicious glee. "Oh Owen, you've forgotten one itsy, bitsy detail. The cold really doesn't bother me. But you, my love, on the other hand…", she said as she swiftly pulled the waistband of his jeans away from his body and, with an amazing swiftness, shoveled several handfuls of snow down the front of his pants.

Owen's face morphed from smug triumph to blind panic as he jumped up yelping and frantically tried to get the snow out of his underwear.

Abby sat up in the snow and sighed contentedly. She could say that she felt truly happy. She didn't have to hunt for food or harm people any longer. She had a safe and secure home where there was no longer a constant need to move. And, above all, she had Owen. She simply loved him more than anyone or anything else. In fact, she mused, one night this winter she might just let him win a snowball fight. But, as Owen hopped past her, trying to scoop the snow out of his crotch, she thought, or maybe not; winning against him was just too much fun.


	3. Chapter 3

_Welcome to Part III of the story. Here, the angst begins. __Reviews are very much appreciated._

On This Winter's Night With You, Part III

It is cold, thought Owen. It is definitely cold. He had finally managed to scoop the snow out of the crotch of his pants, while trying to ignore Abby's laughter. Of course, he HAD started the snowball fight, so he couldn't be too mad at her for what thought was an underhanded trick at winning.

He looked over at Abby who was sitting passively in the deep snow of the front yard with a grin on her face.

"It's not THAT funny.", he said to her in what he hoped was a stern voice.

"I beg to differ. Funny is in the eye of the beholder", Abby said with an innocent look.

"Oh, is it now?"

"It definitely is."

"Then how come you never find The Three Stooges funny when we watch them?"

"I still don't see how you can find them funny, Owen. How can you find them funny? They're three grown men who apparently do nothing but hit each other on the head with hammers and poke each other in the eyes…and I just answered my own question, didn't I?", Abby said with a sad chuckle.

"Don't forget the pie fights."

"How could I ever forget such an intellectual discourse?", Abby said with a roll of her eyes.

"Too bad they're not on the television tonight."

"Aw, yes it's too bad indeed.", Abby said sarcastically.

"I do know what WAS on tonight though."

"What?"

"Oh…I don't know. A certain seasonal special that has something to do with a talking snowman, a prospector, an elf who wants to be a dentist and a certain red-nosed reindeer…", Owen's voice trailed off as he watched for the expected affect his words had on his girlfriend. He was not disappointed.

As if a switch had been thrown, Abby's eyes absolutely lit up. "Owen…it's on tonight? Are you kidding me?", she squealed gleefully, sounding exactly like the twelve year old she appeared to be.

"Nope, I'm not kidding. It was on tonight."

"What do you mean 'was' on tonight?"

"It was on at 8."

"What time is it now?"

"It's about 10:30.", Owen said calmly after looking at his watch.

"We missed it?", Abby gasped with an unmistakable sound of sadness in her voice.

"Yes, we would have. Except for one thing…"

"What?", she asked anxiously

"Well. Remember when I went inside to use the washroom just before 8?"

"Yeah?"

"I just may have stopped to put a blank tape in the VCR and tape it for us to watch when we finished up out here."

"Owen!", she cried with incalculable excitement. "You didn't?"

"I did.", he said with a smile. "I knew you'd want to watch it again."

Abby was suddenly standing next to him so quickly he would not have believed it if he hadn't seen her use many of her powers in the past. She threw her arms around his neck, stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a passionate kiss.

"Owen, you are simply too good to me. Do you know that?", she asked softly when the kiss broke.

"Aw, come on Abby. It wasn't that much. I like it too though."

"Why do you always sell yourself short?"

"I don't think I am."

"Yes, you are."

"Well, maybe I just think that you're the one who's been good to me. I mean, a year ago, I couldn't have dreamed that this Christmas would be like this. Snowball fights weren't fun back then, you know. They were what you could call one-sided affairs. I'd count myself lucky if I just got nailed with a barrage of regular snowballs."

"Regular snowballs?"

"Yup."

"What other types of snowballs are there?"

"Let's see," Owen said as he pretended to rub his chin as if in deep thought, "With the types of people I knew back in Los Alamos the two big alternatives were when you got a rock as your core then built up snow around it. Not too much snow, mind you; the rock had to be able to hit me on the head, or the face or wherever they happened to be aiming. The other favourite was to just use yellow snow."

"Did you say yellow snow?"

"I did indeed."

"Where would they get yellow snow from?"

"The snow came from the ground. The yellow was, well…", he pointed to his own snow covered crotch.

"Ew! Oh my god, that's disgusting!"

"Yup, some assembly was required."

"Owen, that's horrible.", Abby said with visible disgust on her face.

"I thought so. I'm glad I'm not the only one with that opinion.", Owen said without too much bitterness in his voice.

"Oh Owen, everytime you tell me about what things were like for you back then, it makes me…respect you more."

"Hold it a second! My being a punching bag for the Los Alamos bullies makes you respect me."

"Yes. I respect you for the fact that you're still such a good person even after what you went through. So many people would become…", she tried to find the words.

"Twisted?"

"That wasn't what I was going to say, Owen.", Abby said gently as she put her hand on arm.

"No. But it's what I would have said. And it would have been true. I was going down that path, you know. Look where my favourite place to hang out was –in an abandoned room in the basement. I had this…mask…back in my old room. At night, I would put it on, in the dark, and look out the window, holding a knife from the kitchen. I was pretending I was someone else. It was like I was…stalking people. I looked like that guy in those dumb _Halloween_ movies. Abby, I don't think normal people do that."

"Owen…", Abby started to say.

"No, I know it's not normal. And do you remember what I was doing the first night we met? I was stabbing a tree!"

"Owen, I'll grant you that's not the most…normal…thing in the world. But, you were stabbing a tree. You weren't stabbing a person. You were frustrated and you were just venting it all out. That IS a normal thing, even if the way you were doing it was a little unusual."

"Do you mean that?"

"Of course I mean it. Owen, remember that night at the pool?"

"Most vividly."

"I can imagine. But, do you remember what you told me what happened before? You said that you had your knife, but you couldn't use it. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah, that's right. I had the knife, but I just couldn't…"

"I know, Owen. That speaks absolute volumes to me."

"What does it say, that I couldn't even defend myself?"

"No, that you don't have it in you to really hurt someone. That's a good thing Owen. I've known far too many people over the years that could all too easily hurt others. Sometimes, I'll admit, it was to help me. But still, it wasn't a good thing."

"I'd help you Abby. You know that, don't you? If someone was hurting you, or was trying to…I'd stop them. Or, I'd try to, at least.", Owen said softly even as he felt his words were ludicrous. Abby was a vampire with superhuman strength and near indestructibility. Who in the world could she possibly fear save, perhaps, some other vampire? Yeah, that would go well; he thought to himself sarcastically. How would the favourite target of all bullies do trying to go hand-to-hand against a vampire? How long would that fight last? Was there a unit of time small enough to even measure it. But still, he thought, if Abby was in real danger, he would do it for her. If it ever came to it, he'd sacrifice himself so she could escape.

"I know that, Owen. That would be different. I think that even the most peaceful and gentle people will do anything to save someone they care for. My point, and I do have one, is that you're a truly good person. You didn't let what was done to you make become like them. You know that a lot of people who're abused wind up abusers themselves, from what I've read."

"I've heard that too.", Owen replied as he thought to how Kenny –his chief tormentor- had been a victim of his own brother, Jimmy. Of course, both of them were dead now. They'd been literally torn apart by Abby the previous March when the final escalation of their violence had taken place. The apotheosis was to simply hold Owen underwater until he was dead. Abby had saved him and proved to them the old saying that those who live by violence will surely die by violence. Owen only felt a slight bit of guilt at not regretting their deaths. He justified it by logically assuming that since they were willing to kill him, escalation of their violence would surely result in more murders over a period of years. Abby has merely cut that off at the root.

"See? That's what I mean."

"And I proved it just because I taped _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_ tonight?", Owen said with a smile as he thought they should shift from the downbeat conversation.

"It's simply icing on the cake, Owen.", Abby said with a smile. "Don't forget what I told you back in Los Alamos. I'm your girlfriend now, so that means…"

"You're always right."

"I'm always right.", Abby finished with a giggle.

"What about when you maintained that you didn't want to watch _The A-Team_ or _The Dukes of Hazzard_ because you thought they'd be dumb?", Owen asked with a raised eyebrow as he knew that Abby never missed an episode of either show and that she even had a poster of John Schneider on the wall of her basement room. "And your adamant position that _Knight Rider _was too inane for words?"

"I would never have said such a blasphemous thing, Owen. Not about _The Dukes_, not _The A-Team_, and certainly not about anything that stars David Hasselhoff.", Abby said with feigned innocence. "And you can't prove it either."

"Can't admit that you're wrong, huh?", Owen laughed as they walked up the porch steps to the house.

"Do you want another handful of snow down your underwear again?", Abby asked with a sarcastic laugh.

The hot water definitely felt good, thought Owen. He was standing under the shower, allowing the hot water and steam to restore his body to a more normal temperature. He and Abby had been outside in the cold for almost five hours, from starting on the first strand of lights to the conclusion of their latest snowball fight. He sighed to himself. Just once that winter, he'd like to win one. Of course, as far as he was concerned, spending time with Abby was enough of a victory. Time and again he actually pinched himself to be sure everything with Abby wasn't a dream.

A year ago, just having a friend was pretty much a forlorn hope, let alone a girlfriend. But now, things had definitely changed. He idly wondered what some of the people who knew him (he couldn't think of anyone as a friend since nobody ever cared to be his friend at any time) in Los Alamos would think if they saw him and Abby together. He figured –or, actually, rather hoped- they would be amazed and envious that someone like Owen could have such a pretty and intelligent girlfriend. He couldn't imagine what they would say to the fact that he and Abby made love quite regularly. He couldn't help but smile at how jaws would drop at that bit of news. Of course, he was fully aware that part of their relationship really came to pass due to the fact Abby was a vampire. If Abby had not been a vampire, he was absolutely certain that things would not have progressed much pass the kissing stage yet. He did know that adults talked all the time about how kids these days were having sex at younger and younger ages. In fact, Owen would have been the first to agree that they might have been too young to do what they'd been doing, if Abby had been a regular girl. However, Abby was not a normal girl. She was a vampire. She simply wasn't going to age anywhere past where she currently was. To hold off due to that was truly pointless. As well, the risks associated with sex simply didn't apply either to them.

Owen wondered if grown-ups, aside from his grandfather, could understand what he and Abby had together. It wasn't conventional. It wasn't, well, anything other than perfect for the two of them. It was the perfect congruence of circumstances along with the two individuals that had resulted in a truly perfect matching. Owen privately felt most adults would have been envious of what he and Abby had together.

Adults, Owen thought as he reached for the shampoo. He always wondered what it would be like to be an adult. He had imagined himself as tall, strong, able to do anything he wanted. At least, that was what he'd wanted before. Now, he wasn't so desirous of that at all. To grow up meant to leave Abby behind. Owen was no fool. He knew that his relationship with Abby simply could not stay as it was if he allowed time to carry him forward to adulthood. But time spared nobody…except, it seemed, vampires. It was something Owen had thought about more and more as the months passed. There were really two choices for him. He could grow up and eventually realize that the magical relationship he had now with Abby was over. Or, he could ask her to transform him into a vampire so he would remain as eternally unchanging as she was and they could truly stay together forever.

It was an immense decision, to be sure. To have a natural life and be able to enjoy sunlight, real food, being a part of the moving of humanity. Or, the other choice was to remain frozen in time and live eternally in darkness. For Owen, the choice he wanted was surprisingly easy to arrive at. He wanted the eternity in darkness. He wanted the eternity with Abby. He'd mentioned it to her once. She had seemed not terribly surprised. She simply smiled at told him that they had plenty of time to discuss that, and that he had to really think about the implications of what he wanted. He had thought about it, and was still thinking about it. His decision hadn't changed though. He wanted to join Abby completely, as a vampire.

As Owen ran these thoughts through his head as he pondered potential futures, he looked through the clear shower curtain and saw the bathroom door open. Abby slipped in and shut the door quickly, before the cooler air of the hallway could rob the warm bathroom of its heat. She was dressed only in an oversized shirt that she tended to wear when the two of them lounged around late at night to watch television. She smiled at Owen as she noticed he was looking at her.

"Can I come in?", she asked with a smile.

"Hmmm.", Owen said with a grin. "Is there something stopping you? Is there something in the way.", he asked over the sound of the running water. It had become a running joke between them that they would stress the need for an invitation. As they both lived there, there was nothing blocking either of them from anywhere.

"You're not going to invite me?", Abby asked as she looked down at the floor and seemingly studied her own bare feet.

"What if I don't?", Owen said playfully.

Abby didn't say a word. She simply reached over to the sink, wrapped her hand around the hot water tap and gave it a quick twist. Owen inhaled sharply as the water in the shower suddenly turned cold and then went hot again as Abby shut the sink tap off. She looked up at him with an arched eyebrow and a smile.

"Do you want me to flush the toilet now?"

The shower curtain shot open a foot –enough to let her slip through yet still keep the water from going over the bathroom floor. "You can come in.", Owen said with a smile. These games they played were always fun for them. Of course, when it was Abby who was in the shower first, his threats of running the hot water or flushing the toilet really had no weight since Abby –if alone- simply used cold water anyways. (Her reasoning was that it didn't bother her in the slightest so why not save the hot water for other uses?) He usually just had to give a pleading look before Abby turned the hot water knob to warm up her shower and invited Owen to join her.

Now, though, Abby just smiled as their game concluded for another day…and a new game began. She lifted the shirt over her head and hung it on the clothing hook on the door, where Owen's robe and pajamas now hung. Owen smiled and felt a familiar sensation of warmth which came to him whenever he saw Abby naked. In his eyes, she was the most beautiful person in the world and he considered it no less than a miracle that someone so smart and beautiful was in love with *him*. With a graceful move she stepped over the rim of the old-fashioned bathtub and joined Owen in the shower.

"Thank you for the invitation.", she purred as Owen shut the shower curtain behind her.

"Anytime.", he said as he gave her a kiss.

Abby stepped back under the water spray as she let it wet her hair down. She looked over at Owen who was pouring some shampoo into his hand and began to work it into his hair. She looked his nude body up and down and smiled at him.

"What?", he said as he noticed her checking him out. Needless to say, he did the same with her, but he still enjoyed the attention.

"It's just that I can't get over how you've changed from how you looked at the pool back in March. You looked so thin back then. Now, you look so strong."

"Thanks. Well, you spend almost nine months breaking rocks into gravel with a sledgehammer, things like that happen, I guess.", Owen said with a confidant tone that hid the great surge of pride he felt at her words.

To pay back Oscar for his allowing them to stay, the two of them had more or less taken over most of the physical work that came with running the ranch. Abby's superhuman strength and made it possible for the two of them alone to succeed in that undertaking. Owen had taken it upon himself to do many of the jobs that were tough, but could be done without Abby's great power. One of them had been a particularly long and tough job. Grandpa Oscar had been wanting, for several years now, to lay some fresh gravel on the driveways of the ranch. There was a huge pile of stones behind the barn that had been pulled out of the fields and paddocks over the generations. They figured that all it would take was to pound the stones into gravel and then lay it along the rough spots, thus saving the cost of having gravel brought in. It was an uncomplicated job to be sure, but not an easy or a short one.

Abby had offered to do most of it, but Owen felt that he should do it the lion's share. He was so insistent that Abby relented. Starting the first week after their arrival , as soon as Owen had recovered from his cold, they'd begun loading wheelbarrows with rocks and hauling them around the barn to the garage. At first, Owen could barely move the wheelbarrow with a couple of rocks in it. But, as he got used to it, he found himself loading the wheelbarrow with more and more and his speed in doing so increased as well. Once a good working pile was built up, he began to pound them with a sledgehammer. It was tedious and relentless work, but Owen stuck to it. The first few weeks of doing so, his hands were covered in blisters and Abby practically had to carry him up to his room at the end of the night –to maximize time with Abby, night was when most of the work was done- he was so tired. But, Owen had refused to give up. The pile of rocks slowly but surely began to shrink as the corresponding pile of gravel grew. For Owen, the funniest thing was that the once heavy sledgehammer was beginning to feel lighter. When the time came to replenish the stone pile, Owen found it was a cinch to load his wheelbarrow up completely and could even hum a song by Wham! as he wheeled it to his workplace. There, he would begin again the pounding. Abby's part of the job was to actually spread the new gravel down. With her obsessive-compulsive eye for detail that made her love puzzles so much, it was the perfect job for her as she could sense just how much gravel needed to go where.

By June, he'd noticed just how much his upper body had grown from the work, especially his shoulders and arms. Abby and his grandfather both commented on how different he looked. A timely growth spurt had resulted in enough added height that Abby now had to stand on her tiptoes to kiss him when they stood before each other.

The work continued throughout the summer and into the autumn. By the time it was finally done, just before the first snow arrived, the old pile of stones had visibly shrunk, Owen's upper body had visibly grown and Grandpa Oscar was visibly pleased with his much, much smoother driveway.

Now that it was winter, Owen's physical labours had shifted over to splitting wood for the fireplace. He was regularly out by the wood pile, working with either an axe or a maul and wedge.

Owen liked his new upper body. It was no lie to say that Abby liked it just as much.

"You look hot, you know.", Abby said with a pleased smile as she looked at her lover, as she traced her finger over his chest.

"You're pretty hot yourself.", Owen replied as he poured some more Head & Shoulder's shampoo into his hand and began to work it into Abby's hair.

"I try."

"You succeed", Owen laughed.

"You know, before I moved to Los Alamos, and met you, I really didn't shower that much."

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that when we first met."

"I'm laughing on the inside.", Abby said in a deadpan tone as she rolled her eyes.

"Don't hurt yourself. I always wondered why you didn't."

"I don't know. I guess…I didn't think of myself as needing to. It's a human thing. And, like I've told you, before I met you, I didn't think of myself as that. I thought of myself as, well, nothing.", Abby said. Her exposition on her past was turned into a gasp as Owen began to lather her back with the bar of Zest soap.

"You're not nothing to me, Abby", Owen murmured as he began to work his way down her back as Abby shivered under his hands. He finished soaping up her back and worked his hands around to her front. He lathered her stomach, while sliding his hands up towards her breasts.

"I'm getting that impression.", Abby gasped. She turned around and wrapped her arms around Owen's neck. "I'll say this. If I'd had you around like this, I definitely would have showered more often."

"I'll do anything to promote good hygiene.", Owen smiled as he leaned down slightly and kissed her. Abby responded hungrily. She lowered herself to the tub floor, pulling Owen down with her as they gave in to their passion and began to make love under the gently flowing hot water.

Sometime later, after finally finishing in the shower, Owen and Abby sat together on the living room couch, watching their pre-recorded show. Owen was half-watching the Rankin-Bass presentation, the rest of his attention was focused on Abby. She was sitting next to him, staring at the television with a look of absolute wonderment on her face. So far as Owen could tell, she hadn't blinked her eyes one single time since they settled down on the couch and began to watch _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. _Abby seemed to completely love every Christmas special that aired. She had told him that she'd never watched any of them before this year. So far, Rudolph was, by far, her favourite. Owen had to admit it had always been his particular favourite as well. The runner-up for that title was _A Charlie Brown Christmas._

Abby had even made the suggestion that they try and find a Charlie Brown style of tree. Owen and his grandfather outvoted her on that particular issue though. During a commercial, Owen got up and flicked on the Christmas tree lights. The darkened room was immediately lit up with a glean of multi-coloured bulbs.

"The perfect touch.", Abby said as he sat back down on the couch.

"I thought so."

"It's hypnotic to me. I think I could stare at it all night."

"You never had a Christmas tree before?"

"Not like this. Sometimes Thomas, especially in the first years, would get a small tree to put up. That kind of got dropped as the years went on.", Abby said quietly. She still harboured deep regrets over what she did to Thomas' life and his eventual death. Like Owen's memories of being bullied, it was a bad part of her past that she knew she'd eventually have to make peace with.

"What about before…When you were still living in Virginia, I mean?", Owen asked in a reference to her human life in what was then Colonial Virginia.

"Back then? We didn't have Christmas trees back then. Nobody did."

"Really?"

"Really. You see Owen, decorating a tree at Christmas began in what's now Germany. The first time it was done in this country was by Hessian soldiers who were here fighting in the Revolutionary War. Even then, it didn't catch on much yet. As for me, well, I'd been a vampire for almost fifteen years by that time –the story is that it was a Hessian prisoner who put up a tree at the Noden-Reed House in Windsor Locks, Connecticut in 1777- so it really didn't have any impact on me. Trees really caught on when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, who was German. That made Christmas trees popular in England. An illustration was done of Victoria and Albert with their children, around a Christmas tree in 1848. It was copied into _Godey's Lady's Book _here in 1850, and it just took off. By 1870, everyone was doing it.", Abby explained. She noticed Owen staring at her. "What's wrong, Owen?"

"You're just…so smart."

"No. I've just had more time to read a lot more books.", Abby replied with a laugh.

"Shame you can't go on one of those quiz shows. You'd clean up."

"I should go on that _Late Night with David Letterman_ show, where he does those 'stupid human tricks'. I bet I could take first prize.", she giggled.

"You would. It's a shame they record it in the middle of the day."

"Definitely too bad"

As the show ended, Owen shut down the tape while Abby looked through the TV Guide for something else to watch. Owen turned to her.

"Abby"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering about something."

"What?"

"How long, do you think, would it take you to fly the two of us to Alberta from here?"

"Alberta?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know. It depends on where in Alberta."

"I was thinking of someplace just over the border."

"It would take maybe a couple of hours, I think."

"So, we could go there and back in one night?"

"If it's just over the border, that would be no problem. Of course, it depends how long we're there before starting back."

"I was thinking of maybe fifteen minutes, maybe twenty."

"If that's all, then if we left here right after dark we could probably be back by midnight; 1am at the latest. Do you mind if I ask why you want to go there?"

"I was thinking of my mother."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah, I was thinking that I could try to phone her from a payphone there. I thought I'd just call her and tell her that I'm alive, I'm safe and…", he smiled at Abby "and I'm happy. If I couldn't get through, I could mail her a letter from there."

"That is sweet of you. But, why all the way to Alberta for that?"

"In case they're looking for me and they try to trace the call back. They'll think I'm up in Canada and they probably wouldn't think to keep looking hard down here. The same goes if I have to send a letter. It would have a Canadian stamp and postmark."

"And you think I'm smart? Owen, you really amaze me.", Abby said with pride.

"So, we can do it then?"

"Sure we can."

"When should we go?"

"It depends on the weather. It's supposed to snow the next few nights with a lot of wind. It wouldn't affect me that much, but you would need some calmer weather. How about Tuesday night?"

"That sounds good. We'll do it then. Maybe we could even look around up there and see if there's some good deals to get Grandpa something."

"It can't hurt to look. Now, let's see if there's something good to watch tonight. Oh, on channel 5 is _A Christmas Carol_ with Alistair Sim.", Abby showed Owen the listing.

"Best version ever.", Owen agreed as he changed the channel.

"Someone should make a different type of Christmas movie someday."

"Like what?"

"I don't know; maybe something with some action in. _The A-Team Meets Santa Claus_, or something.", Abby said with a smile at the thought.

"Nah, that's too cliché. Oh, how about this? A cop goes to his wife's office Christmas party when crooks take over the place, but he escapes and starts picking them off one by one."

"That would never work as a movie."

"Yeah, I guess you're right.", Owen sighed as Abby snuggled up against him contentedly as they settled down to watch the movie.

It was two days later. Owen was bustling around the house in the late afternoon. He looked out the window both to see what the weather was like and to see how close the sun was to setting. Comparing his watch with the sky, he judged it would about a half-hour until Abby got up. Not that the sky was telling him much that day. It was grey and snow was starting to fall. It was coming down fairly heavily, but wasn't being whipped around by a heavy wind that made blizzards in the Rockies so fierce. His grandfather had gone to town and mentioned he was dropping by Joe Lawton's on the way back. With Abby still asleep in the basement, Owen had the house to himself.

There appeared to be nothing on television of any interest to him, so he looked about for something to read. His eyes fell on a copy of _TIME_ _Magazine_. The Lawton's granddaughter had been selling subscriptions to magazines, so his grandfather had taken out subscriptions to that and _Sports Illustrated_ (he was anxious to read the prognostications of the upcoming NFL playoffs). It was from this week and Owen hadn't read it yet. This seemed as good a time as any.

Owen sat down in the easy chair and flicked on the reading lamp as he opened the cover and scanned the table of contents. His eyes shot open as they fell on an article "Los Alamos Massacre: Nine Months Later". His hands were shaking as he debated whether or not to read it. He decided that it would torment him more not to read it, so he flipped to the page and began to read it. After forty-five seconds, his grip on the magazine tightened so much his knuckles went white. He read on. A minute later, Owen dropped the magazine across the arm of the chair and stumbled across the room.

He shambled to the door and mindlessly stepped into his boots and pulled his coat on. In the same zombie-like shuffle he opened the side door and stepped out, not bothering to close the inner door, leaving only the storm door to slam shut.

Once outside, he walked without any seeming purpose. He staggered away from the house in the gathering darkness. A few more steps took him into the forest pathway. He didn't see or hear the door to the root cellar open and Abby emerge. She never thought to look across towards the woods. She was only puzzled at the fact that Owen hadn't been there when she woke up. She wasn't alarmed, as there were some days when he was simply caught up in doing something and wasn't able to make it downstairs in time for her awakening. However, she didn't think that there was any big job to do around the place that day. She heard the motor of Grandpa Oscar's pickup approach to the house and turn off. That could be the reason, she thought. She knew that sometimes, during the day, Oscar would take Owen on a drive through the backroads just so Owen could see some different scenery once in a while. They would bring a camera and that summer and fall had taken some beautiful landscape pictures. Abby had at least two of the pictures adorning the wall of her room, in between the posters of John Schneider and David Hasselhoff.

As Abby stepped in through the side door, she heard someone come in the front door.

"Hi, you two!", she called out.

"What're you talking about, Abby?", Oscar called from the hallway as he removed his coat.

"Owen wasn't there when I got up. I thought he was with you."

"He's not with me. I was visiting the Lawton's after coming from town."

"That's strange.", Abby said as she turned her attention through the house. She couldn't sense Owen anywhere in it. There was no sound of his heartbeat, nor was there his scent within the house. Then, she remembered something.

"Grandpa, when I came in just now, the side door was open."

"It was?"

"Yes. The storm door was shut but the inner door was still open."

"Well, where would Owen go and why would he leave the door open?", Oscar asked as he felt worry begin to gather within him.

"I don't know. Did anything happen this afternoon?"

"Not a thing. I left just after 1pm and everything was fine.", Oscar said. He then noticed something in the living room. "The reading lamp is on."

"Yeah, it is.", Abby said as the two of them walked into the living room. She reached down to the chair's arm and picked up the discarded magazine. "Owen must have been reading this."

"It looks like it."

Abby flipped open the cover and the article on Los Alamos caught her eye.

"Grandpa, there's something in here about what happened in Los Alamos back in March!"

"So there is! I'll bet that has something to do with this. Let's see what the article has to say."

Abby flipped the pages to the article in question as she and Oscar began to scan it.

"Let's see here, oh look at this, 'An unexpected result in the wake of the pool tragedy involved the estranged parents of missing boy Owen…' oh, my God!", Abby gasped.

"Christ almighty!", Oscar moaned as he read the article for himself.

"Oh God, Owen must have read this and then…", her voice trailed off as she mentally put the pieces of the devastating article together with the door left open and Owen now missing. She looked back from the snowy darkness outside to recheck the article in question. "Grandpa, we have to find Owen. And, we have to do it now."


	4. Chapter 4

_Here's Part IV of Owen and Abby's first Christmas story. I do hope everyone likes it. I tried to find the right mix of angst, humour and romance. :-D Incidentally, if anyone wants a good laugh, go to YouTube and look at Hai Karate commercials from the 1970's. LOL_

_A/N In case I hadn't mentioned it before, I don't own the characters but I wish I did._

_As everyone knows, I simply love reviews. I hope everyone loves this new chapter._

_I hope and plan to have Chapter 5 up before Christmas._

On This Winter's Night With You, Part IV

Abby looked from the _Time_ article, to the window where outside the snow was continuing to fall with no sign of letting up, to the article again. She simply couldn't believe what she was reading. If Owen had read this, she could only imagine the impact it had on him.

She closed her eyes and forced herself to be calm. Opening them again, she reread the article one last time. The early paragraphs recapped the events at the pool –or, at least, what the authorities thought had happened. So far as Abby could determine, nobody was even close to what actually happened. Of course, she wasn't at all surprised by that. The ensuing paragraphs dealt with the aftermaths at the school and the individuals involved.

Owen's old gym coach, Mr. Zoric, was badly traumatized after discovering the carnage on the pool deck. He had spent the remaining three months of the school year on paid medical leave. The previous September he had been transferred –upon his own request- and was working at another school in the district. According to the article, he was still seeing a counselor to help him cope with the tragedy, but he was dealing with it and overall had resumed his life and career.

There was a lengthy write-up about the three students and one ex-student who had been positively identified as dead. It had taken longer than expected to confirm all the identities, as the bodies had been ripped apart so thoroughly.

Abby read with varying degrees of disgust that their reputations as bullies was rather glossed over –at least in the cases of Kenny, Donny and Mark. Kenny's brother Jimmy, at the time of his death, was out on bail and had been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, not to mention a few charges involving drugs. Those facts weren't so easy to bury. Abby remembered it was Jimmy who had been holding Owen under the water –until Abby literally pulled his skull right off the top of his spinal cord, that is. From what she was reading of Jimmy's past history of violence, she had no doubt that he would have had no problem in murdering Owen.

There was speculation that Jimmy's violent past and questionable affiliations might have had something to do with what happened. Of course, there was still the question of how the large window of the swimming pool –that was very high up- had been completely pulverized and from the outside. It didn't explain how the four victims had been thoroughly ripped apart (and the coroner had determined that horrific mutilations had all been done prior to death –the resulting injuries had actually been the primary cause of death) so quickly and quietly –it was speculated that certain heavy tools or machinery could conceivably had caused such injuries, but there was no noise heard and absolutely no real way for anyone to get such machinery into and out of the pool deck so swiftly. Some forensics specialists maintained that theoretically it was possible for such injuries to be inflicted without tools, but the amount of force needed would require so many people (and strong people at that) acting together that the logistics actually precluded that being considered a plausible theory.

Then, there was the factor of missing student Owen Lindquist. He was the only student not yet accounted for. His fate was unknown after nine months. However, in the days that followed, some very strange facts arose. The body of a Los Alamos police detective was discovered in a forgotten room in the basement of his apartment building. The body was well over a week old upon discovery –when someone had noticed the stench and the superintendant had finally took it upon himself to investigate. The officer had been investigating several other strange events that centered around the apartment complex. Two residents had been met with mysterious deaths in the preceding weeks. One man had been found dead in a frozen pond (curiously by a school field trip that included both the missing and dead students), with the apparent cause being severe neck lacerations followed by exsanguination. The other death was far stranger. A woman had been attacked in the courtyard and had also suffered neck wounds. She'd survived the attack and been taken to the hospital. The following morning she was killed when a massive fire erupted from her room. And this was tied in to a series of what was thought to be ritualistic murders by a Satanic cult. Again, a deceased suspect was thought to have lived briefly next door to the missing student. That was more uncertain as the dead man had never been positively identified and not been seen much around the complex.

The article speculated how Owen was seemingly in the centre of all of these events. It suggested that the chances of it all being a coincidence was simply too great for statistical probability. Owen's own fate was a question of speculation. Not one clue had turned up about him since that night at the school (Abby guessed that nobody at the Los Alamos railway station noticed him enough to remember.) The two schools of thought were that he'd been kidnapped by the cult and –after nine months without a trace- was likely dead somewhere. Or, he'd been seduced into joining the cult and had been an accessory to the pool killings (although just how the killings could have been carried out was still anyone's guess). That was when the article came to the sideline part that simply must have caught Owen's attention. Abby re-read it one final time.

_An unexpected result of the pool tragedy involved the parents of missing boy Owen Lindquist. At the time of the murders, the two had been separated with divorce proceedings underway. However, in the wake of their son's disappearance Eric and Yvonne Lindquist have actually reconciled and the divorce proceedings have been terminated. Yvonne Lindquist is now pregnant, with the baby due in March –which will mark the one year anniversary of her son's disappearance and possible death._

_When asked about her son's possible fate, Lindquist- who describes herself as a devout Christian- gave an unequivocal answer._

"_My Owen is either now with the Lord, or he's thrown his lot in with followers of Lucifer. I can only pray that he's dead now. If he's not dead and in Heaven with Jesus, then he's definitely dead to me. I expect I will one day see him again in Heaven….or not ever again."_

_When asked about the chance of him perhaps being alive and held captive against his will, she expressed her doubts to that chance._

"_If he were alive, he would have asked the Lord to let him escape long before now. I would hope that he would have taken his own life before allowing his soul to be corrupted by the Devil's people. Like I said, the Owen I once loved is dead. If he's not, then he's dead to me and he's no longer any son of mine. I do hope and pray that he's dead."_

_Eric Lindquist, while not as outspoken as his wife did recall the last word's he had with his son, three nights prior to his disappearance._

"_He called me up and asked if there was such a thing as evil. I don't know; maybe he was making his decision on whether or not to join these people, or not. I guess he didn't know any better. He was like those kids who followed Charlie Manson. I remember Manson sort of attracted those losers who didn't fit in either. It's all in the past now anyways."_

_When asked about the future, both Eric and Yvonne Lindquist expressed optimism for what lies ahead. _

"_We're not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.", said Yvonne Lindquist. "This time, our child will turn out properly."_

_This reporter did bring up how serendipitous, but ironic, that their reconciliation came about in the wake of such a tragic event and their own son's disappearance._

"_The Lord works in mysterious ways. In the months afterwards, Eric and I simply reconnected. We realized that many of those obstacles we had before were simply gone. This time we're going to have a proper family and not make those mistakes again."_

Abby closed the magazine with a barely suppressed shudder. She restrained herself from ripping it into confetti right then and there. She sighed and looked at her surrogate grandfather.

"I can't believe she said those things, Grandpa."

"I can.", Oscar said with a sigh of his own. "My daughter…has a history of not doing the wisest things in the world. Back in the 1960's, she was into the whole hippie drug scene. It wasn't as big out here as it was in California or anyplace like that, but she was still into it. That's where she met that idiot father of Owen's. When the 70's started, and after Owen was born she had her big religious conversion. Nothing wrong with that…except Yvonne tended to forget the part about whoever is without sin casting the first stone. That article summed her up perfectly, I'm sorry to say. As for my son-in-law, he's not into religion as much, but I thought he was an idiot then and I think he's an idiot now." Oscar shook his head sadly as he recalled his family's bumpy road of the past fifteen years.

"I can only imagine what Owen thought when he read that article. What sort of mother prays that her son is dead?"

"Abby, don't try to understand how Owen's mother thinks. I've spent almost ten years trying to do that and I'm no closer now than when I started. Christ…in three months, I'll have another grandchild", Oscar said as the realization dawned on him.

"I don't care about Owen's mother. I don't care about what she thinks or how she thinks it. All I care about is finding Owen."

"I know. Is…Is there anything you can do now that could find him?", Oscar said. Although Abby generally did not explicitly demonstrate her supernatural abilities in front of Oscar as readily as she did in front of Owen, he still knew that she stood a far better chance of resolving things now than he could ever hope to do.

"I think so. Let me go look by the side door.", Abby said as she walked swiftly to the door. She stepped outside into the cold and snowy night. She looked down at the snow, focusing intently on something. Abby gestured for Oscar to be quiet, so she could listen. She looked up and ahead of her, then closed her eyes and lifted up her head. She turned it ever so gently one way and then another, apparently inhaling deeply as she turned.

Abby stopped and opened her eyes. She turned back towards Oscar, who stood in the doorway. Relief was tangible on her face.

"I think I know where he is, Grandpa."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Is he alright?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty certain he is."

"Thank Christ. OK, you'd better go and talk to him."

"What about you?", Abby asked softly.

"Abby, you and I both know that he's going to respond to you a thousand times better than he would to me. When I was young, my Elina could reach me whenever my father or grandfather couldn't. Now just go and find him. It's getting cold though, I wouldn't let him stay out too long."

"Alright Grandpa, I'll go get him.", Abby said. She started walking slowly towards the forest path, following the trail she detected on the wind. She knew she could have been there in a matter of seconds with the speed she was capable of. She could even have flown. But, she walked slowly so that she could have time to mentally rehearse some of the things she was going to say to him. She knew he was hurting. Owen's self-esteem had been frighteningly low when they'd met. The ensuing months together had built up his self-confidence as surely as it had hers. Now, she was afraid that all the progress they'd made together since March had been destroyed by what his parents said.

Abby's fists tightened when she thought of what his parents had said. What sort of parents could say that about their own son? How could they say that about Owen? In Abby's opinion, if there was one truly good person in the world it was him. Part of her, once she got Owen back to the house and taken care of, would have loved to taken to the skies and flown back to Los Alamos and gone straight to Owen's parents –his mother in particular. What then? Well, she knew she wouldn't lower herself to take the woman's blood. She'd made a new life for herself and wasn't about to fall back on her old habits for a woman who, in her opinion, wasn't even worth the time away from Owen. If Yvonne wasn't pregnant, Abby did smile at the thought of simply beating her back to the Stone Ages.

Abby entered the forest path, walking softly through the snow. She could just barely make out the indentation of Owen's tracks, as the trees prevented the falling snow from completely refilling them. Of course, Abby didn't need to see the tracks to trace Owen.

At a point where the path forked, Abby saw a distinctive looking stone. With her bare foot, she brushed off some of the snow from it. Chiseled into the flat face of the stone was an inscription:

_Thomas Haykan_

_1927-1983_

_Dona illi requiem sempiternam_

Abby knew that Thomas' real name was unknown in Los Alamos. He would have no marker to commemorate him. One of her deepest regrets was dragging him into her insane life decades before. If only she'd known then what she knew now. If she had, many peoples' fates would have been different, including that of Thomas. That spring, she and Owen, had found a rock and she had chiseled the words into it. They'd left it in a peaceful spot in the woods where at least there would be some memorial to a man that Abby felt she owed more than she could ever pay back. She sighed sadly and continued on her way down the path.

Abby knew the path well. It led to the riverbank where she and Owen liked to sit and talk on warm summer evenings. A fork in the path led to the deep estuary pool that was their swimming hole. That was the path Abby now took. She took a final turn and emerged in a clearing by the swimming hole. Not ten steps ahead of her, seated morosely on the rock that was their diving platform in the summer, was Owen.

He was sitting there, shaping up snowballs on his gloved hands and casually whipping them across the frozen pond. He gave no indication he knew she was there, as he was looking down and she knew she had not made a sound. His lonely vigil reminded her very much of their first meetings in Los Alamos. Abby bent down and scooped up some snow in her own hand and packed it into a ball. Taking aim at where his own snowballs now lay, she gave it a hard throw. Her snowball landed right in the middle of them, causing them to scatter. Owen looked up and sighed. The glum look on his face spoke volumes to her.

"Hi Owen.", Abby tried. "I read the article. I'm so sorry.", she said as she walked over to him.

"I kind of want to be alone.", Owen sighed sadly.

"Well, that's just too bad. If you think I'm going to let you sit out here all by yourself like this, then I'm afraid you're just wrong." Abby sat down on the rock next to him. "And this time, you can't tell me that I should leave because you've lived here longer either.", she said. She hoped that a joking reference to what he said to her on their second meeting might help get through to him.

"I guess I can't, now can I?"

"No, you can't."

"You said you read the article?"

"Yeah, I did."

"I guess our trip to Alberta is off."

"I think that's best for now."

"Yeah…So, how long are you planning on sitting here?"

"I don't know. How long are you going to stay out here?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"Well, I'm not going back to the house without you. So, sooner or later you're going to have to come back. I mean, the sun rises later now, but it IS going to rise again. How long are you going to stay out here?"

"You're serious?"

"Yeah, Owen, I am."

"You mean, you'd actually stay out here as long as I am, even if you'd be risking getting caught at sunrise?"

"Let me put it to you this way, if I was human and you were like me, and I was hurting like you are now, what would you want to do?" Abby saw that Owen's eyes softened and the faint beginnings of a smile tugged at his mouth.

"About the exact same thing, I guess.", he conceded.

"Exactly! Owen, I love you and I'm not going to budge from this spot unless you're coming with me."

"Alright," Owen sighed, "I'll come back in. Do you think we could just sit here a bit longer though?"

"Of course.", Abby said softly. She figured Owen wanted to talk about what his parents had said. Her appraisal was not incorrect.

"All this time we've been here, Abby, I've been so happy. I am happy with you. The only thing that really bothered me was thinking she might be worried about me. That was why I wanted to just call her, or write to her. To let her know I was alive. That way, I thought she'd not worry anymore. I guess she stopped worrying a long time ago. I mean, she hopes I'm dead. I suppose calling her would have really disappointed her, wouldn't it?", he said sadly.

"Owen..", Abby started to say.

"She hopes I'm dead. She prays I'm dead! She prayed all the time back when I was with her. Was she praying for that back then too?"

"I'm sure she didn't.", Abby said as she found herself in the unexpected position of having to defend Yvonne Lindquist.

"What type of mother prays for her son to be dead?", Owen asked in a low voice.

"I don't know. But, I can tell you that my mother and father actually tried to ensure I was dead. I think that goes a step beyond praying for it."

"They what?", Owen asked with a dumbfounded expression.

"They tried to kill me.", Abby said sadly. "It was when I was…changed. I wasn't entirely sure what had happened to me. I was attacked at one of the old buildings on the plantation. I don't know how long I was there afterwards. It couldn't have been too long, I guess, because it was still the same night. I stumbled back to the main house. I was covered with my own blood. My clothes were torn. I was crying. I just wanted to go home and I thought my mother and father could make it all better.", she sighed and looked at Owen. He was staring at her intently. His own problems were apparently forgotten for the time being as he listened to her tale. She steeled herself for the worst part.

"I came up to the house. I remember seeing them come out onto the porch. It was strange, I could see in the dark so clearly. I could hear the slightest sounds. All my senses were overwhelming me. It's funny, in a way. I could see that my father had a gun in his hands. He had the heavy Brown Bess musket. I could see it so clearly, but I couldn't see what he was going to do with it. I thought he was trying to protect me from who attacked me, but…But he raised it up to his shoulder, he aimed…and he shot me."

"Abby…", Owen said as he felt like his own heart skipped a beat. His own despair was forgotten now as he was filled with anger at the idea of someone trying to harm his Abby.

"It's alright Owen. I need to tell you this. I've never told anyone this, not in over two hundred years. He shot me right in the chest.", she opened her shirt to reveal her bare breasts and torso. She pointed to a spot just above her left breast. "It was right here that the musket ball hit me."

Owen looked at the spot hard. It was difficult to see in the darkness as the clouds hid any moonlight and he had no flashlight with him. He had, of course, seen Abby naked far more times than he could count. He knew full well that there was absolutely no mark or scar anywhere on her torso.

"Oh, you can't see it Owen.", Abby said as if reading his thoughts as she closed her shirt again. "There's literally nothing to see. The shot hit me and knocked me down –I think because I just wasn't expecting it. I stood up, and I really thought I was dead already then, but then I felt something heavy in my mouth. I spat it out. It was the musket ball. I looked down at my chest. There was a hole in my dress, but the skin was closed up perfectly. God, it was all happening so fast. My parents saw this. My mother screamed and held out a Bible towards me. I guess she thought it would repel me. My father grabbed a broomstick and broke it in half, so one end was sharp. He started down the steps towards me. I still couldn't believe it was all happening, but I knew he wanted to drive it into me. So I ran. I ran away from my home, my family, everything. That night was the last night I had any sort of real home…until I came here with you in March."

Owen was trying to wrap his head around what she was telling him. His mother's words were fuelled by her own zealotry, and perhaps –he suspected- some psychological issues of her own, (He recalled her mood swings, her drinking, etc.) not to mention ignorance. Abby's parents had actively tried to kill her. As bad as what his mother said was, what Abby's parents had done was infinitely worse.

"I'm so sorry, Abby."

"It's alright Owen. You make it alright. Do you remember what I said in July about how most people would think of me as a monster? How they'd want to stake me and leave me out for the sunlight? I know that for a fact because that's what my own parents tried to do to me. It's why you're so special. You showed me kindness. You accepted me when the two people who're supposed to love you no matter what didn't.", she said as she gently caressed his face with her hand.

"What happened after that?"

"I ran as fast as I could. I didn't realize how fast I actually was. -My awareness of what I could do came to me as I went along.- Towards dawn, something told me I had to hide away from the sunlight. I found an old shack and hid there. At dusk I made my way back to my family's house. I saw that the door was dressed in black. I hid in the trees as I saw neighbours passing by, talking about the recent tragedy that befell my family. Apparently, I had died of a sudden fever the night before –at least that was as far as anyone else knew. That was the story my parents told everyone. The next day, apparently, I was to be buried in the family plot -I guess they put some stones in a coffin and buried it. So, that ended my life as it was. All I had was this…existence…to deal with. It lasted until this past March. That's when, as far as I'm concerned, my life started again.", she turned to Owen with a loving smile.

"That's so terrible, Abby."

"It was. But, it's not like that now. I have you. You've managed to make me forget all that hurt from before."

"I have?"

"Yes. So now it's time for me to return the favour."

"I guess it's not that bad. Not after what you told me. I just wish…"

"What do you wish?"

"I wish I could someday explain things to my mother. Introduce you to her, and let her know what really happened. Maybe she'd accept it, or maybe she wouldn't. But at least she'd know the truth. There'd be…what's that word they use?"

"Closure."

"Yeah, that's it. We could both have closure."

"Maybe we'll do that one day."

"Abby."

"Yeah?"

"If we did that, I don't think I could go like I am now. I think…I think I'd have to be…like you.", Owen looked at her to gauge her reaction.

Abby just looked at him and smiled faintly. "Owen, you don't know what you're asking."

"I do know."

"You do know what you'd be giving up if you became like I am?"

"I know what I'd give up if I didn't. I'd lose you eventually. As far as I'm concerned, that settles the issue."

"Owen, you really have to be sure. It's not something that can be undone. I know what you're worried about, Owen. We can afford to wait a little while longer."

"So, you're saying that you will do it, sometime?"

"Yes…I guess I am.", Abby said as she realized the implication behind her words. The idea of turning Owen was something she herself had thought about since almost the beginning. She loved the idea of spending eternity with him. However, she did know how large a step it was. She definitely wanted Owen to have a little more experience with life before she did that though. She privately thought that sometime next summer might well be the ideal time.

"Thank you.", he said simply. Abby smiled at him as she took his hand, realizing that she and Owen were truly meant to be together for all time. Owen rubbed his chin manfully. "I'll have to shave before you do it. I wouldn't want to be turned and always need a shave."

Abby came close to dying that moment; she was sure that suppressing the laughter she felt would cause her to explode. "Um, yeah, Owen, I'm sure that's going to be a huge problem.", she said as she forced down giggles.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"What do you think?", Abby said as she started to lose her battle with the sheer silliness of what Owen had said.

Owen glared at her then started laughing himself. It felt good to laugh again, after the sheer misery of the last hour.

"Oh Abby…I am so lucky I have you."

"Well, I'm lucky to have you."

"Can we say we're lucky to have each other?"

"Yeah, that works."

"Is Grandpa worried about me?"

"Yeah, but when I told him I knew where you were, he was relieved. He sent me to find you. He said he thought you'd listen to me more than him."

"Well, he was right about that."

"We should get back soon, you know. You must be getting cold, and I'm sure Grandpa will want you home so he can relax and watch ice boxing without worrying."

"You mean hockey?"

"Whatever. They skate around, they have a fistfight, they skate around, and they fight. It looks like ice boxing to me."

"Hey, at least it's not fake like wrestling."

"What do you mean 'fake'?", Abby asked him with an intent look on her face. Owen decided it wasn't the time or place to break that little piece of news to her.

"Um, nothing."

"Alright then.", Abby said. She smiled and gently looked at Owen. "Are you feeling a little better now?"

"No, I'm feeling a lot better. You always make me feel better. It's like a gift you have."

"Oh, come on.", she giggled.

"It's true. Even back when we met, you could make me forget all my troubles. You know, I really feel sorry for other kids who get picked on at school. Most of them don't have someone like you in their lives."

"You mean…", Abby asked. She thought he was going to say she was someone who would take care of the problem. Instead, Owen surprised her yet again.

"I mean, they don't have someone who just be there after school and make them feel better about everything. They don't have someone they can talk to, or laugh with, or share their Rubik's Cube with. That's what meant so much to me when we first met Abby. I had nobody at all. And then all of a sudden, I was looking forward to every evening, when I could see you. I feel so badly for all the people who don't have that." Owen took her hand and placed it on his cheek, duplicating the way she so often expressed her feelings of love and affection. Abby smiled gently as she recognized the gesture and what he was saying with it.

She looked down at Owen's left hand which was gently hold her right hand. She noticed a small, faded scar on his thumb. She traced it with her own thumb.

"That scar…That was so scary. I thought I was going to lose control, you know."

"Yeah, I didn't know what was happening. I mean, I saw what was happening but my mind just wouldn't accept what I was seeing right away."

"I remember I told you to go away, to run. But you stayed. Why would you do that?"

"I don't know. I was too shocked. And I guess, I thought you were in trouble and needed my help."

"Hold on, you thought I was the one in trouble?"

"Uh, yeah, like when you puked up the candy."

"Do you know how dangerous that was?"

"I do now. But I couldn't just leave you there.", Owen said with soft yet forceful determination.

"You're just too special, Owen.", Abby said with a smile as she kissed him on the cheek. "I do have something I've been wanting to know for months, though."

"What?"

"When you took me down to that room, is that what you were planning on doing?"

"Um, what did you think I was going to do?"

"I thought you were going to try and kiss me, of course."

"You did?"

"Owen, you wanted to take me down to some private room. That's what boys generally do. I kind of thought you might want to do that with me."

"Well, I did, you know. But, my friend Tommy –the guy who set the place up- he told me that doing the whole pact thing was something girls really went for."

"He told you that?"

"Yeah, he said that girls would want to do stuff with you afterwards."

"I see. Owen, you know I love you, so please don't take this too personally, but Tommy…was an idiot."

"He was?"

"Yeah, he was a complete and total idiot. Or he was lying to you. Or, he just maybe was with the dumbest girls on the planet. Maybe even a combinaton of all three."

"I guess it really was a bad idea all around, wasn't it? If I hadn't have found out that night, would you have told me the truth on your own?"

"Yeah, I would have. I wanted to already, but I was afraid I'd scare you away though."

"I wish I'd tried to kiss you then. You'd have really made out with me?"

"Of course I would have."

"Guess I blew a good chance there."

"You did…But, we can make up for it in your room later on tonight, if you want to.", Abby said with a smile. Owen looked at her and smiled himself. She looked intensely pretty just then. The snow wasn't melting on her hair and skin since her skin always tended to be quite cold outside in winter. It was sticking to her hair, her clothing and the exposed skin of her hands, face and barefeet. To Owen, she looked like the Snow Queen from _The Nutcracker_.

"I definitely want to."

"Good. Your room is nicer than that place in Los Alamos. It might have been pretty cool to hang out in, but it was filthy."

"Yeah, I never thought about that."

Abby grinned and looked around at their surroundings. This was a favourite spot for the two of them. It was where they spent many summer nights swimming together. Abby had long known how to swim, but she couldn't recall ever swimming for fun until the past summer. And being with Owen made it all the more fun. After his 13th birthday, the place became even more special. It then became a romantic spot for them. They'd once made love on the very rock they were now sitting, diving into the cool water together when they were done. Abby did think this was a far nicer place to be with Owen than a dingy basement room. Giving in to her emotions, she leaned over and kissed Owen on the lips for a few passionate seconds.

Abby stood up and Owen rose to his feet as well. It would have been a strange sight: Owen in his heavy coat and boots, while Abby was only wearing a light shirt and pants, with not even any shoes on. Abby took his hand in hers and lead him back along the forest path to the ranch house.

"Abby.", Owen asked as they started back.

"Yeah?"

"I'm just curious about something. Just how did you know where I was? You didn't have a lot of snow on you when you sat down next to me, so you couldn't have been outside for long. How'd you know I was at the swimming hole?"

"I was able to track you."

"How could you do that? Did I leave tracks in the snow?"

"I didn't need them."

"Then how did you do it?"

"I was able to smell you?"

"You could smell me?"

"I could."

"Could you smell my blood?", Owen asked as he wondered briefly what it would be like to have Abby's senses when he was made into a vampire.

"No. Not quite."

"Then what did you smell?"

"Um, how do I put this? Owen, you know that cologne you love so much?"

"Hai Karate? Yup, it's awesome."

"Yeah, about that; do you know the saying that a little goes a long way?"

"Yeah, but I put on more than a little."

"Bingo."

"You mean you could smell my cologne all the way to the house?"

"Owen, I love you, but you put on so much today that I could have smelled your cologne if you'd made it all the way to Missoula."

"Really?"

"Really. Like the commercials say, be careful how you use it."

"You want me to put on a little less?"

"A lot less would be ideal. Trust me, a little dab will do you."

"Grandpa puts on just as much Brut. Do you want him to use less too?"

"It would be an early Christmas present.", Abby said.

"Oh alright,", Owen said with an exaggerated sigh. "I guess my bottle will last longer then.", he finished with a smile.

"Awww. Thanks.", Abby grinned as they emerged from the path into the yard.

It was later that night and they were laying together in Owen's bed. Their late night ritual was invariably the same. They would go to Owen's room together, undress completely and get in bed. More often than not –at least since Owen's birthday- they made love. Afterwards, they would lie together and read, or just talk. Sometimes Owen would fall asleep before Abby had to retire to the root cellar, sometimes he remained awake to see her off (usually via the window). Some nights, they lost track of the time –often when they got carried away and made love again- and Abby opted to sleep in her steamer trunk, which was kept in Owen's room for just such a situation.

This night, as the two lay together nude under the covers, they were talking about the events of the evening. Oscar had been greeted Owen with a hug as he stepped back into the house as the two realized they would forever share the strained and complicated relationship with Owen's mother. Oscar gratefully greeted Abby with a strong hug and a kiss atop her snowy head. After he and Owen ate their dinner, they settled into the living room to watch that night's 'ice boxing' game, as Abby termed it. NFL football, which was on the next day, was even more perplexing to Abby. As she described it, two teams of immensely large men –who if she'd ever fed on, back in the day, were so large she'd have to taken a doggy bag- line up and then crash into each other until everyone fell down. As she understood it, the game seemed to they had to kill whoever had the ball by crushing him under combined bodyweights. Owen had learned that of all professional sports, Abby seemed to like baseball the best. She told him and Oscar that she'd once seen Babe Ruth hit a home run. She'd also been witness to the last World Series titles of both the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs. She added wryly that she figured that since she was going to live forever, there was at least a 50/50 chance of seeing those teams win the World Series again sometime. Owen thought that one day maybe he and Abby could go see a ballgame together sometime. Then his thoughts turned to events in New Mexico and he sighed.

"Owen, what's wrong?", Abby asked.

"It just hit me…Before springtime, I'm going to have a little brother or sister and I'm probably never going to see him or her."

"Well, maybe one day…after…we can go back down there.", Abby said as she thought about what was going to happen next summer. "If you want, you can talk to your mother and make peace with everything. If you don't, then maybe you could at least get a look at the baby. I do feel sorry for the baby, though."

"Why's that?"

"It won't be able to grow up with having an amazing big brother which I'm certain you would be."

"I would try to be a cool older brother. Like your brother George was with you."

"George…I wish I could have seen him one last time to say goodbye."

"Yeah, I know. Abby, I was wondering about something."

"What?"

"Us. Do you think that this was all meant to be? Or, was this all just a series of lucky chances for the two of us?"

"I think…That part of the reason I could never find anyplace with peace for so long was that I wasn't meant to have it yet. I think that I was meant to be with you, Owen. And I had to keep roaming all over the place until I found you."

"You think that?"

"I do. It was like I was Jacob Marley's ghost. I couldn't stop and I couldn't stay anywhere for all those years. But when we met, it felt like something was just…right. It was like I was meant to know you. And then, when we first came here in March, the minute I saw this place it was like I knew this was it. It felt like my home. It was the first time I felt that about anyplace since I fled from the plantation in 1763."

"It felt pretty much the same to me, Abby. I'd been here before, when I was little. But, I just knew that this was to be our special place. I was really worried back when we got here that you'd leave so Grandpa would let me stay."

"You were sick. I couldn't let you stay out with me."

"I didn't care."

"I know. But, you had to get better."

"I'd have left on my own, you know. I'd have gone out looking for you if you'd have left."

"I thought you might. That's why I'm so glad he let us both stay."

"What would we have done if we couldn't have stayed?", Owen asked.

"There were a few things.", Abby mused. Abby had thought of that over the last months. She realized that she might have been forced to turn Owen back then. If he'd been willing –and he obviously would have been- she could have turned him as an alternative to them wandering around Montana with him sick and hungry. She was eternally grateful they'd been allowed to stay.

"I'm glad we could stay too.", Owen said quietly.

"And, it's only a week now until Christmas.", Abby said happily.

"Yup.", Owen agreed. He was thinking of some of the things he and his grandfather had gotten for Abby. This would be their first Christmas together, and probably her first real fun Christmas in who knows how long. He was determined it would be a special one for her.

Abby returned the smile and pulled him into a kiss as they snuggled under the covers while the snow continued to fall outside.


	5. Chapter 5

_Season's Greetings dear readers and fellow Owen/Abby fans. This chapter concludes their Christmas story. I do hope everyone has enjoyed it._

_The final segment is my fiendish cliffhanger to lead into the next story. evil laugh :-D_

_As everyone knows, I simply love to get reviews._

_Thanks for reading and a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011 everyone. :-)_

On This Winter's Night With You, Part V

Sunday, December 25, 1983

Abby rolled over in her bed and smiled to herself. Sleeping next to her was Owen. He'd said he might come down to her room sometime in the afternoon. When Abby had asked why, he'd just smiled in that way she loved so much and said that it would be so she could wake up next to him on Christmas.

Of course, technically, she'd already gone to bed on Christmas Day. The two of them had –to simplify things- decided that the night of December 24th/25th was regarded as Christmas Eve, and their Christmas Day would begin at dusk on December 25th and stretch until dawn on Boxing Day, December the 26th.

The previous night had been a fine one. The small family had eaten dinner –well, Owen and Oscar had eaten their meal. Abby drank her meal out of a Santa Claus mug that was kept in a back cupboard for eleven months out of the year.

Afterwards, Owen and Abby had settled onto the couch to watch the annual Christmas Eve shows. Oscar had announced that the Lawsons had invited him to accompany them to a church service in town. Atypically for him –as he'd refused similar offers in previous years- he'd accepted. His reasoning was that he had much to be thankful for in the year now ending.

After Oscar drove over to the neighbour's where they would all go together in their car, Abby surprised Oscar with her musing.

"I almost wish I could go with him. He's right. There's a lot to be thankful for now."

"Can you do that? I mean…", Owen asked as he was wondering about the concept of vampires and holy ground.

"Oh yeah, I've honestly never found that religious icons ever did anything to me. They don't repel me. But…Do you remember how I said that I have encountered other vampires from time to time?"

"Yeah."

"It's funny but a couple of them suggested that they were affected by crosses or holy water. I didn't let on that I didn't have that problem. I was afraid they might decide I was useful to them somehow. But, at any rate, I don't think entering a church would be any sort of problem –aside from the fact I don't have proper clothes for it.", Abby said with a gentle smile.

"But you said you still can't go."

"But not for that reason. It's a small town church. Everyone there knows everyone. People might wonder who I am."

"Yeah, I see what you mean. To be honest, if it wasn't for that, I think I'd go too.", Owen had mused. He was still worried about people recognizing him, especially in lieu of the _Time _article from a week prior. He was privately thinking that sometime in the future, he'd be able to go out in public again. Once he was a vampire, and would not age, he could do that. People would look for someone older in appearance and never guess he would look the same age in four or five years time.

"Did your parents go on Christmas Eve?"

"My mom always did, and she took me with her; on Sundays as well. My dad didn't go as much."

"My family went at Christmas. Well, we actually went every Sunday as well. Of course, it was a time when everyone did that."

"My dad kind of preferred to stay home and watch the game on Sundays.", Owen said quietly. He wondered what type of arrangements his parents would have since their reconciliation. He sighed softly at the frustration the thought still carried for him.

Abby noted his momentary downturn in mood. She snuggled close to Owen on the couch and took his hand in her own while, at the same time, tickling his leg with her bare toes. It was something she'd learned over their months together, never failed to draw a laugh from him and this time was no exception.

"It's Christmas Eve, Owen. We're here and together.", she said with a smile.

"Yeah, as always," he said with faked dramatic sigh, "you're right. I'm not going to let anything get me down."

With that, the two settled down in front of the television to watch a Christmas movie marathon. At the stroke of midnight they kissed and wished each other a Merry Christmas.

That had been the night before. Abby had gone to her room as dawn approached. Owen had suggested that he might come downstairs that afternoon, as he wasn't going to sleep at his normal time. Abby had been fine with that, as she knew that there was no chance of light entering. She did worry a bit about the temperature, as her room wasn't heated. She didn't need it, but she was afraid Owen would be cold. Owen assured her he would take care of it.

Now, when Abby awoke, she found that there were about three blankets piled on top of her normal covers. She smiled at the fact that Owen had indeed taken care of the problem.

She snuggled into him and spooned her nude body against his. In truth, Abby didn't need covers at all. However, for some reason she simply liked to use them. She enjoyed snuggling under them when she went to bed. She liked the feeling of the soft and clean sheets against her bare skin. She loved it when she and Owen snuggled together under the covers after they made love. For all too many years, she had not had any real use for such human comforts. Now, she truly enjoyed them. Of course, she wouldn't really have enjoyed them as much –or at all- if it wasn't for Owen.

As she looked over at her lover, she could see that he was still sound asleep. At least, she mused, he wasn't snoring. She'd learned that when Owen was very tired, or sometimes ill, he tended to snore –**really** snore. On the trip to Missoula, inside the trunk, Abby had awoken to a noise that for an instant made her think that lion's cage had been placed in the baggage car next to the trunk. Luckily for her, the sleep instinct could generally overpower any distracting noises.

She glanced over at the clock on the bedside table and saw that it was past 5pm. The sun was down and their Christmas Day had begun. It was time to wake Owen up.

"Owen? It's time to get up.", she said softly. A nonsensical mumble that sounded like he was asking for five more minutes was her only response. She decided to try a new tactic. "Come on…It's Christmas.", Abby said. This time she rubbed her nude body slowly up and down his. Well, she thought as she felt a familiar pressure against her body, it feels like he's waking up. Should any second…

"Morning.", Owen said with a salacious grin as his eyes popped open. He gently pulled her towards him and gave her a kiss. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too.", Abby said back. "It's time to get up.", she said as she turned on the light and sat up.

"Aw, you were teasing? That's mean.", Owen pretended to pout.

"Sorry, but you weren't responding to anything else so I was left with little choice. I promise to make it up to you later on.", she laughed.

"Alright.", Owen responded with a chuckle of his own. "Yow, it's cold down here when you're getting out of bed."

"Is it now? I don't notice."

"I do."

"Alright, I'll take pity on you.", Abby laughed. She slipped out of bed and padded over to the chair where Owen had left his clothing folded a few hours prior. She brought them back to the bed. "Here, you can pull them on under the covers."

"Thanks.", Owen smiled at her.

"Anytime.", she replied as she set about getting her own clothes on.

Five minutes later, the two entered the house through the side door. The house was empty. Oscar, as was his habit when not visiting Lyle in San Francisco, was taking his dinner at the Lawton house. Owen checked inside the oven momentarily and turned it on. A small turkey breast was in a pan in the oven, placed there by Oscar prior to departing. He and Owen had done all the preparations that afternoon before Owen went to bed. The turkey breast with stove-top dressing, a couple of mashed potatoes (to be turned on later), a green bean casserole done with bacon and sour cream (brought as a leftover from the Lawton table), and cranberry sauce was to be Owen's Christmas dinner.

Abby emerged from the cellar with a bottle of blood –as it was Christmas and thus a special occasion, it was an IV bag of human blood 'donated' by St. Patrick's hospital in Missoula. She left it out so the contents would warm up a little more before she added the bag into a pan of warm water to complete the warming cycle.

She entered the living room and noted that the VHS machine was recording one of the day's football games.

"Grandpa's taping something."

"Is he?"

"Yup, looks like a ballgame. He's really gotten used to the VCR."

"It was an awesome birthday gift for him."

"It was your idea."

"You provided the money."

"No, those two jerks in Billings did that.", Abby said as she recalled the events that led to them buying Oscar the VCR for his birthday the previous August.

Abby had gone to Billings one night in late July to take advantage of the local hospital's blood bank. (She tended to go to various hospitals so the absences from the blood bank wouldn't be too severe in one place.) A block from the local hospital, she cut through an alley to come face to face with a pair of men in what seemed to be a drug buy. One of them, had promptly decided to eliminate this witness and pulled a gun. The man would not remember much else. The two were found forty minutes later by the police –who'd received a mysterious anonymous phone call- in the same alley unconscious. Both had concussions, lacerations and broken bones. Among the injuries were arm lacerations that looked like they'd bled somewhat (Abby had used her fingernails to open the skin and collected a pint from each into an empty bottle she found.). Even more mysterious was the fact that along with the drugs, two handguns were found. Amazingly, the barrels of both weapons had been bent back completely. The prospective buyer complained that the more than fifteen hundred dollars in cash he'd had was completely gone from his pockets. Abby had been listening from a rooftop and thought the guy should be grateful for the fact that six months earlier, both of them would be on their way to the morgue if they'd encountered her like that.

Upon returning home with the money, Owen and Abby decided to get Oscar a VCR for his birthday. All it took was them to send away to Sears & Roebuck and a metal, top-loading Panasonic VHS player arrived by late August for Oscar's birthday. After a few sessions of trial and error in programming, Oscar soon loved being able to tape ballgames and movies. Now, he was making use of their birthday present to him. Abby was duly pleased since she was –for once- able to do some good with the superhuman abilities she had.

Owen came into the living room after tending to chores in the kitchen.

"How's your dinner coming along?", Abby asked.

"I think it's ok. I'm really looking forward to it."

"I'll bet."

"It'll be a nice change."

"What did you have last Christmas?"

"We actually had turkey. But, the potatoes my mom got turned out to be bad. So, she made macaroni to go with the turkey, stuffing and vegetables instead."

"Macaroni at Christmas?"

"Yup. She did hold off the cheese that one time. When we said grace, that was what I really thankful for."

"Just out of curiosity, how often did she serve you that?"

"Um, more like how often did she not serve it? She kind of got the idea it was my favourite, so she served it…a lot."

Abby left it at that, sensing that Owen didn't want to rehash the monotony of his diet to add to his unpleasant memories of Los Alamos. The two sat down to watch some television while the food cooked.

Oscar returned around 8pm, after an enjoyable dinner with his friends. He'd left on the pretext of planning to call his son Lyle in California, as well as his grandchildren out there. He did make the calls as he'd said. Owen and Abby heard him talking for a while and laughing with his distant family.

Once off the phone, he turned his attention to the family he had living with him now. Owen and Abby had both eaten their respective meals by this time, so it was time to open presents.

Abby could scarcely contain her excitement. In that, she felt just like the young girl she appeared to be. At Owen and Abby's behest, Oscar opened his gifts first. From Abby, he'd received some new fly fishing line and a series of new trout flies that he couldn't wait to try when the season began in May. From Owen, he received a new fishing vest with a hat. As well, there was a warm cotton union suit that he planned to wear in January when he and Joe Lawton began their regular ice-fishing trips. From both of them, he also got some blank VHS tapes to record sports events –with the Sarajevo Olympic Winter Games less than two months off, he expected to get great use out of them.

Owen's gifts consisted of some clothing from his grandfather, as well as some books. Abby had gotten him some _Star Wars_ action figures. She'd noticed that he'd had several in his room in Los Alamos. They had –of course- been left behind. Somehow, Abby had managed to find all the ones that he'd left there, along with some new ones. She also had given him some books. There were a couple of Gordon Korman's popular young adult series, as well as a couple of Shakespeare plays. (Abby had been slowly working to elevate Owen's taste in reading material over the preceding months.)

Abby's hands were steady when she opened her gifts only by a severe display of her willpower. Oscar had gotten her some clothes. Since arriving, she'd mostly worn older clothes that Oscar's own children had worn once. Now, she had clothes that fit her perfectly, as well as were more current in style. Owen had gotten her some books as well. He'd figured out that Abby loved romances, especially the classical ones. To that end, he'd gotten her paperbacks of _Wuthering Heights_, _Jane Eyre_, and _Pride & Prejudice_. Another package puzzled her. It felt solid, but nothing she could easily discern through the paper. She tore it open and smiled, inside was Rubik's Revenge, a far more difficult variation of the Rubik's Cube. Abby couldn't wait to try it out.

Oscar stood up and walked to the closet.

"Now, earlier this month, I was talking to your Uncle Lyle. It appears, Owen, that your mother hasn't spoken to him about anything either. When we spoke, this was at Thanksgiving, he asked about sending your usual present to you at Christmas. I suggested he send it here and I'd see you got it. I didn't offer any more information and he didn't ask. I think he might suspect there's more to what I was saying, but your mother won't talk to him anymore than she would to me, so she won't listen to him even if he were to talk to her. Your Uncle Lyle sent this."

He removed a box from the closet. It was a ColecoVision gaming system. Owen and Abby's jaws dropped as they saw this. Oscar smiled at their reaction.

"And, this was my contribution", he grinned as he revealed the Expansion Pack 1 that would allow them to use the Atari 2600 games on the system. Near pandemonium resulted at that. Oscar smiled to himself. It was definitely a brilliant idea of Lyle's. He suspected Lyle knew more than he was letting on. Perhaps Lyle should be brought into the full secret, including the truth about Abby, he pondered. At any rate, even Oscar admitted to himself that he was looking forward to trying some of the games himself.

Afterwards, when they'd cleaned up the wrapping papers, Owen announced loudly, "Grandpa, we forgot the stockings!", as he gestured towards the two stockings hanging on the mantle. They were of the same size, set at the ends of the mantle. One was inscribed with 'Oscar', the other with 'Owen'.

"Why, so we did. Well, let's rectify that right now. Owen, would you…?", he asked as he shot his grandson a knowing nod of his head.

"Sure.", Owen responded with a nod of his own. Abby watched as Oscar removed Owen's stocking and placed it on the sofa where Owen had been sitting. He carried the other one to his own chair. Abby, thus, didn't see Owen reach down under the sofa and remove a third stocking that they'd put there earlier that day. Before she could process the scene, Owen had placed it in her lap. Abby gasped in surprise as she looked at it.

It was bright red, since it was far newer than the other two. Across the white band at the top, embroidered in old-fashioned lettering was the name 'Abby'. She looked, her eyes wide at Owen and his grandfather.

"We were going to hang it up on the mantle, between the other two. But we thought it might be more fun to give it to you as a surprise.", Owen said as he could scarcely contain his own pleasure as he saw Abby's expression.

This was perhaps the most touching thing of all to her. As Abby looked at the stocking with her name attached, she realized that she now really was a part of the family here.

The contents of the stockings were fine if standard. Oscar got a few sports magazines, some shaving soap, and a jar of maraschino cherries –a particular favourite of his. Owen received a few Batman comics, soap on a rope, and a bottle each of Hai Karate and English Leather colognes. Abby received some soap and shampoo that had a definitively more feminine scent than the ones she had been using. She also noted a brush that she could use on her feet in the shower –since her feet did tend to need special care when she showered since she didn't wear shoes, as well as some foot lotion –again something she could use. Overall, it was a perfect collection for her needs.

The evening concluded with Oscar settling in to watch some of the game that he'd taped earlier, while Owen and Abby read the instructions for the ColecoVision.

Later that night, Owen and Abby lay together in his bed. Abby had made up to Owen what she'd promised him earlier –not that it had taken much prompting on his part. She was resting her head on his shoulder while he randomly ran his fingers through her hair.

"Did you have a nice Christmas, Abby?"

"Are you serious? I really hate to sound like a cliché, but I think it was the best Christmas ever."

"Really?"

"I honestly can't remember anything nicer."

"I'm glad it was a special one for you. I can see you liked the stocking."

"I almost cried when I saw it, I was so overwhelmed."

"I noticed. Do you know what makes me happiest?"

"What's that?"

"That we're here, together. You know, when I turned around that night in the courtyard, and saw you there, I thought it might be cool if you wanted to be my friend. I never thought that we'd be like this at Christmas, or…", he looked at her with a warm intensity, "or that I could possibly love you as much as I do."

Abby smiled at her lover and gave him a kiss. "I have to admit that when we first met, I just wanted to be alone on the jungle gym. You started to win me over when you lent me the Rubik's Cube.", she grinned. "But, I know what you mean. I've seen a lot of winter's nights. But I don't think I've ever been this happy than this winter's night with you. And do you know what makes me even happier?"

"What?"

"That we're going to have many, many more of them together.", Abby said with a smile as she kissed him.

Owen responded to her kiss and the passion built again as the two welcomed in Boxing Day by making love again. Outside their window, the snow began to fall again as Montana settled into the early morning hours of December the 26th.

South America

The night air was hot and steamy. A pale face with a prominent nose looked up at the night sky. A smile spread across the pallid face, a smile that revealed very white teeth with deadly looking incisors. A sliver of moonlight revealed smears of blood on the lips and chin of the figure. The blood stood out in stark contrast to the pale skin of the face.

From a distant village came screams of horror as the results of the pale figures' feeding was discovered.

These small primitive villages, he thought. They reminded him so much like the ones in the backwoods of the Virginia that he had once known and loved so well. He raised one of his ring strewn fingers to his chin and stroked it. The memories came flooding back to him, Virginia, the family's plantation along the James River, discussions with other gentlemen of Virginia society about what the new King, George III, was going to do about taxation in the colonies here. He thought about his now long dead brother (who had been so conveniently understanding of his then new nighttime condition…until a point, that is) and his equally long dead –save, likely, for one- family. And, he thought about his niece. Oh yes, his sweet little niece Abigail.

He had wanted to be closer to her. Oh yes, he had wanted to be SO much closer to her. He remembered how she looked. He remembered her scent. He remembered how she had screamed when he'd lured her into that old building on the plantation. In hindsight, he thought, he should not have been so hasty back then. If he'd done his work in a slower manner, he might have actually been able to sample the flesh he'd so badly wanted. Instead, she'd gotten scared and begun to panic and he'd been forced to settle for her blood instead. Ah, the agony of his lost chances.

But still, his pretty little niece ought to still be little and still be pretty to this day; unless she'd run afoul of someone with a wooden stake or gotten careless when it came to invitations or sunlight. He doubted that, though. She was always a smart child, what with her inquisitive nature and fondness for puzzles. He wondered idly what the last eleven-score years had been like for her.

Perhaps, he thought, it was time to return to America. He'd been down here amongst the primitives since when? He believed he'd overheard word at the time of some sort of war between Spain and the United States. Oh yes, his return was overdue.

And, he thought lustfully, his reunion with his sweet little niece Abigail was far, far overdue. There was no rush, or course, he should enjoy his journey back up South and Central America. He thought he might be back in the United States by spring or so. Ah spring, it heralded a reunion with his pretty little Abigail. He could scarcely contain his glee at the thought. He wondered how she'd react at seeing her old Uncle Jebediah again. They'd both find that out soon enough.


End file.
